Allie Long, an integral part of the Portland Thorns' midfield in their inaugural, championship-winning season in the NWSL, will be overseas for the next week, through December 9th, playing with Chelsea Ladies FC in the Mobcast International Women's Club Championship.
The Championship, taking place in Japan, has already commenced and saw the Chelsea Ladies take on Australia's Sydney FC in a match that the European side won 3-2. Long played the full 90 minutes in that match and will continue to be available for the tournament final against Japan's INAC Kobe Leonessa on Sunday.
According to EqualizeSoccer.com, Long joined Chelsea in search of minutes during the long NWSL off-season as she hopes to be in the conversation for national team minutes in the future.
I just want to get better and I know I need games to do that and right now we have six months off and training alone is hard so I wanted to get games with a good club in a good competition... To be successful in the national team you need to be playing well at club level so that is my aim.
Long, who scored the overtime goal against Kansas City FC to send the Thorns to the NWSL Finals, played with the USWNT's U-20's and U-21's but has not been called up to the first team.
The Thorns' press release:
THORNS FC LOAN MIDFIELDER ALLIE LONG TO ENGLISH CLUB CHELSEA LADIES FC
Long joins FA Women’s Super League side for International Women’s Club Championship through Dec. 9
PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Thorns FC today announced that the club has loaned midfielder Allie Long to English club Chelsea Ladies FC through Dec. 9.
Long, 26, joins Chelsea Ladies for the second annual International Women’s Club Championship in Japan. Chelsea Ladies, the European representative in the tournament, entered the competition at the semifinal stage on Wednesday against 2012-13 Australian W-League champion Sydney FC at Kanko Stadium in Okayama, Japan. Long started and played the full 90 minutes in a 3-2 win for Chelsea Ladies. Japan’s Nadeshiko League champions INAC Kobe Leonessa defeated 2012 Copa Libertadores Femenina winner Colo-Colo of Chile in the other semifinal match on Wednesday.
The tournament’s championship match between Chelsea Ladies and INAC Kobe Leonessa is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 8 at 1:10 p.m. local time (Saturday, Dec. 7, 8:10 p.m. Pacific) at Nishigaoka Soccer Stadium in Tokyo.
Signed by Thorns FC on Jan. 31, 2013, Long recorded three goals and three assists for Portland during the inaugural National Women’s Soccer League season. A dynamic midfielder for Thorns FC, Long tallied the game-winning goal in the 103rd minute of extra time in a 3-2 win over FC Kansas City in the NWSL semifinals on Aug. 24, helping Portland in its run to winning the NWSL Championship. One of three players to start all 22 regular-season games for Thorns FC, Long ended the regular season ranked first on the team with 1,956 minutes played.Chelsea Ladies finished the 2013 FA Women’s Super League (FA WSL) season in seventh place in the eight-team league with a 3-10-1 (10pts) overall record. The FA WSL began play in 2011 and completed its third season in September 2013.