In our first special we take a look at Tottenham’s new number 18 and ask ourselves who is Alanna Kennedy? Alanna first got into soccer/football at around the age of 5 and would usually play with a ball in the backyard with her brother and sister. Alanna would usually hang out and play soccer/football with friends from the school’s soccer team and first started to play with other females once she joined a competitive team aged 10. During 2008-2009 Kennedy represented Australia at U-17 level making 10 appearances and scoring 6 goals before moving up to the U-20 level in which she represented Australia between 2011-2014 while in between making her senior debut at 17 years of age in 2012. From a young age Alanna knew that she wanted to be a Matilda and that dream was fast becoming a reality.
Alanna made her W-League debut 10 years ago for Sydney FC at the age of 16 where she made 3 appearances and won the W-League Premiership title. Kennedy switched to the Newcastle Jets for the 2011-2012 season making 9 appearances and scoring 1 goal. In 2012 Alanna moved back to Sydney FC where she won another championship before moving to Western Sydney Wanderers (2013-14) then the Perth Glory where she first played with fellow Tottenham defender Shelina Zadorsky (2014-15) and then back to Sydney FC before moving to the Western New York Flash in America.
In May 2015 Kennedy was named in the Austrailian roster for the 7th edition of the Women’s World Cup which took place in Canada and was the 2nd youngest player on the roster. Australia were drawn into Group D alongside 2011 runners-up the United States, 2011 bronze medalists Sweden and Nigeria. The Matildas finished 2nd in their group after losing to eventual champions the U.S. 3-1, beating Nigeria 2-0 and drawing their final group game 1-1 with Sweden to qualify out of their group with 4 points. Australia faced the very technical Brazilians in their round of 16 match and booked their place into the quarter finals thanks to a Kyah Simon goal in the 80th minute. Unfortunately for the Matildas thats where their 2015 journey ended at the hands of 2011 champions Japan. The Matildas really held their own against the 2011 champions, Australia did well to soak up Japanese pressure, hit them on the counter and hold the champions 0-0 but they were unable to get the breakthrough goal. On the 87th minute Mana Iwabuchi broke the Matilda’s hearts when she was finally able to crack the Australian defence to give Japan a 1-0 victory.
During the 2016 season Kennedy made 17 appearances for the Flash in her debut season where they managed to grab a 4th place finish in the regular season earning themselves the final playoff spot. Kennedy went on to play every minute of the two playoff games where New York defeated Portland 4-3 after extra time in the semi finals and then defeated friend and future team mate Shelina Zadorsky’s Washington Sprit 3-2 on penalties in the final after the game ended 2-2 after extra time to win the NWSL championship.
At the age of 21 Kennedy made her Olympics debut at the Rio 2016 Olympics playing all of the Matildas games in the tournament. Australia were drawn into Group F alongside Canada, Zimbabwe and eventual tournament winners, 2 time World Champion’s Germany. The Matildas opened their campaign with a 2-0 defeat against Canada. Australia knew they could not lose their second game to 8 time European champions Germany and managed to take a point after letting a 2 goal slip. In the final game of the group stages the Matildas knew that nothing less than a victory against Zimbabwe was good enough and it took Australia just 2 minutes to get on the scoresheet with a goal from Lisa De Vanna. The Matildas went on to win the game 6-1 with our very own Alanna Kennedy grabbing a goal as the Matildas advanced to quarter finals where Australia took on Hosts Brazil in front of 52,000 fans.
Brazil and Australia have shared many battles over the year with the Matildas coming out on top in their last meeting at the 2015 World Cup in Canada winning by 1-0 with a goal by Kyah Simon. The Matildas and Brazil put on a fantastic show with Kennedy being one of the star players of the match but neither team were able to break the deadlock and after extra time the score remained 0-0. The host went on to win the shootout 7-6 but under controversial circumstances. Alanna Kennedy unfortunately missed the final spot kick for the Matildas but Barbara (not for the first time) clearly came off her line and the penalty should have been retaken.
Unfortunately the officials did not want to know and like many times in the past, poor refereeing cost a team a chance of winning a trophy.
New Club, New Goal.
Kennedy’s next stop took place in 2017 when she was traded by the North Carolina Courage to the Orlando Pride in exchange for Sam Witteman. Kennedy was an instant hit at the Pride and was key in Orlando’s success during the 2017 season. Kennedy has been a key player since her arrival which was demonstrated in her debut season in Orlando. On September 30th Orlando faced the Courage in the final game of the season, locked at 2-2 and into injury time Orlando got a free kick. With so many talented players on the field for the Pride Kennedy stepped up to take a wonderful right footed curling free kick into Katelyn Rowland’s top right hand corner to give the Pride the victory and the 3rd playoff spot.
Hungry for more success Kennedy was looking for her 2nd NWSL championship in a row, unfortunately it just was not meant to be and Orlando were eliminated in the Semi Finals to eventual winners the Portland Thorns.
Back To The Wonderful Land Of OZ.
After the disappointment of crashing out of the NWSL championship Kennedy returned to Australia during the off season joining Melbourne City FC for the 2017-18 season. As usual Kennedy being the winner that she is went on to win the W-League Championship with Melbourne. After suffering a 6 game winless streak midway through the season, Melbourne come back into the final series where they went on to defeat the Perth Glory 2-0 in the 2017 W-League Grand Final and then Sydney FC 2-0 in the 2018 final.
Back to Orlando
After the W-League concluded Kennedy returned to the Pride for the 2018 season. With a few new additions including Shelina Zardorsky, the Pride were looking to go one better and finally bring the NWSL championship to Orlando. The 2018 season turned out to be a disappointing one for everyone with the Pride finishing in 7th place which lead to the departure of Pride coach Tom Semanni. The 2019 season saw the appointment of former Birmingham coach Mark Skinner but things just went from bad to worse for the Pride who finished last in the 2019 campaign after losing many players to World Cup duty.
Asian Cup 2018.
In April 2018 the Asian Cup took place in Jordan and the Australia the 2010 champions were looking to add another title to their collection. Australia were drawn into Group B the group of death alongside Vietnam, South Korea and Japan. The Matildas opened their campaign with a 0-0 draw with South Korea, in game 2 Australia overcame Vietnam 8-0 with Kennedy grabbing a goal in the 18th minute. Being such a tight group Australia knew that they needed at least a point in their final game against Japan. After a hard fought battle Australia were able to grab a point with Sam Kerr scoring 4 minutes from time. The Semi Finals saw Australia take on Thailand and found themselves 2-1 down in injury time until Kennedy got the equalizer for the Matildas in the 90th minute to take the game into extra time which Australia eventually went on to win 3-1 on penalties. On April 20th the Matildas took on rivals Japan in the Asian cup final. Australia came out the stronger of the two teams and took it to Japan from the start. The Matildas had many chances to go ahead but good goalkeeping by Ayaka Yamashita kept the score 0-0 and Japan in the game. In 14th minute Australia were awarded penalty which Elise Kellond-Knight took but it was saved by Yamashita. The second half saw the Matildas again dominate the world champion’s but they were unable to find the breakthrough needed after hitting the bar and forcing Yamashita into action on more than one occasion. The game looked like it was heading for extra time but in the 84th minute substitute Yami Yokoyama scored to break Australian hearts and give the world champions their 2nd Asian Cup title.
France 2019.
After the disappointment of Canada 2015 and Rio 2016 the Matildas were looking to get their hands on the World Cup that they craved. I was really impressed with Australia in recent years and actually put a bet on Australia to win the 2019 World Cup.
The Matildas were drawn into Group C alongside Italy, Brazil and Jamaica, one of the shocks of the tournament took place on the opening match of Group C when Italy come from behind to defeat the Matildas one of the tournament favorites 2-1. In game 2 the Matildas took on rivals Brazil in a spectacular game coming back from 2 down to win the game by 3-2. In the final group game Australia took on Jamaica knowing nothing but a victory would be good enough. Up stepped Sam Kerr who scored 4 goals to lead the Matildas to a 4-1 victory and securing their place into the last 16. Next the Matildas took on 1995 World Cup Champion’s Norway, in a tight contest it was the Norwegian’s that took the lead through Isabelle Herlovsen but Elise Kellond-Knight came to the rescue in the 83rd minute to drawing the Matildas level. The game ended 1-1- after extra time and Norway went on to defeat the Matildas 4-1 on penalties with Kerr and Gielnik missing in the shootout.
Friends Reunited.
On August 20th 2020 Tottenham Hotspur announced the loan signing of defensive midfielder Alanna Kennedy from the Orlando Pride which would see Kennedy link up again with friend and fellow Pride team mate Shelina Zardorsky.
Kennedy arrives to Tottenham having scored 7 goals in 87 appearances for Australia and 22 goals at club level in 181 appearances. Kennedy is a versatile player that can play in defence or midfield and that always leaves 100% on the field and no doubt will bring some much needed toughness in midfield. No doubt Kennedy will be a hit with the Spurs fans, Welcome to Tottenham Alanna, COME ON YOU SPURS!
Women's Soccer Fans 