Julia Grosso
Julia Angela Grosso (born August 29, 2000) is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Juventus and the Canada national team. Early life. Grosso was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. She attended Burnaby Central Secondary where she played with the Whitecaps FC Girls Elite Rex. Grosso's sister Carli was also a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps system and played for the Simon Fraser Clan. Grosso made her college debut for the Texas Longhorns on August 17, 2018, in a 3–0 win over the Rice Owls. Club career. Early career. Grosso signed  with TSS FC Rovers of the Women's Premier Soccer League for the 2018 season. Juventus. In December 2021, Grosso joined Italian club Juventus on an initial one-year contract. She debutted for Juventus on January 16, 2022 in a 5–0 win against Pomigliano. International career. Youth. On August 7, 2014, Grosso made her first junior appearance for Canada with the national under-15 against Puerto Rico in a 5–0 victory at the CONCACAF Girls Under-15 Championship. She played twelve minutes in a substitute appearance. The Canadians would go on to win the inaugural edition of the tournament in a penalty  shoot-out over Haiti. Grosso would make five appearances for the under-15 national team in the tournament, the only five U-15 caps of her career. Grosso's debut for the under-17 team came on March 3, 2016 at the CONCACAF Women's Under-17 Championship in a 3–0 win against Guatemala. Canada would finish in third place at the tournament and Grosso was named to the Best XI, en route to qualification for the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Grosso proceeded to play in the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Jordan. There, she played 90 minutes  in all three group games, recording an assist in the first game, a 3–2 win over Cameroon. Canada would draw and lose their next games against Germany and Venezuela, respectively, resulting in a third-place finish in the group and failure to proceed from the group stage. The game against Venezuela was Grosso's last for the under-17 team. On January 18, 2018, Grosso made her debut for the under-20 team in a 3–1 victory over Costa Rica in the opening match of the 2018 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship. Canada would lose the semi-finals on penalties to Mexico  after a 1–1 draw after extra time. Canada needed to defeat Haiti in the third place match in order to qualify for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, but lost the game 1–0 and did not qualify for the U-20 World Cup. Grosso played every minute of the five-game campaign. Senior. Grosso received her first call-up to the senior team under coach John Herdman for a home and home series against the United States on November 9 and 12, 2017. While Grosso did not feature in the first match, she came on as a ninetieth minute  substitute for Janine Beckie in a 3–1 loss at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California. Grosso was also a part of Canada's squad for the 2018 Algarve Cup where the team finished fifth. On May 25, 2019 she was named to the roster for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. On August 6, 2021, she scored the winning penalty kick in the shootout of the gold medal game at Tokyo 2020, against Sweden, winning Canada their first gold medal in Women's Soccer. Style of play. Grosso is a left-footed "mezz'ala" who has creativity and technique as  well as intensity and contrast and can also play as left-back. Honours. Club. Juventus International. Canada U15 Canada