MIAMI (Dec. 21, 2011) - Former FIU women's soccer players Thaisa Moreno (2009-2010) and Mayara Bordin (2008-2010) helped their Brazilian club team, Foz Cataratas FC, win the Brazilian Women's Football Cup. They will now play for the 2012 Copa Libertadores Femenina, the premier annual international women's football club tournament.
In the semifinal match, Foz Cataratas FC went into PKs against Viana as Bordin converted the final shot to send her team into the finals. The team went on to face Vitoria-PE, winning both legs by a combined 5-0 score. It was the first title for the club team and for each player.
Last year, Moreno and Bordin helped their same club finish second in the league.
Both players were on the 2009 FIU squad that won the SBC regular season as both were All-SBC players. Moreno was listed as second team All-SBC performer in 2009 while Bordin was also tabbed as a second-teamer in 2010.
Attached are videos of the semifinal and final matches with footage of both players (warning: both videos are in Portuguese).
Semifinal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=939RZtF10lU
Bordin's quote translated:
"I was confident, calm and composed to strike the last penalty. We had practiced all week for this game and we knew we had a good chance of winning."
Final:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6b1O0RFOD8
About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 17 different sports, and is a proud member of the Sun Belt Conference and an affiliate member of Conference USA (men's soccer). Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls 46,000 students in two campus and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. FIU is a member of the Sun Belt Conference and has 400 student-athletes participating in17 sports. In 2010 the Panthers won their first bowl game. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
