Roma's Haavi relishes chance to build on Women's Champions League experience

STOCKHOLM: AS Roma forward Emilie Haavi cannot wait for another crack at the Women's Champions League after falling at the quarter-final stage last season, as they prepare to face Vorskla in a qualifying clash on Wednesday (Oct 11).

Haavi, who was voted the Italian league's most valuable player last term as Roma won the Italian championship for the first time, said this is exactly the kind of challenge she was looking for when she left LSK Kvinner in her native Norway for Italy in December 2021.

"We want to at least achieve what we did last year, and whether we can go even further only time will tell, but a quarter-final at the Olimpico? I really want to experience that again,” she told Reuters.

A vastly experienced international, Haavi won an incredible nine league titles and eight Norwegian Women's Cups with Roa IL and LSK before joining Roma, but she also suffered a serious knee injury at the World Cup in France in 2019.

Her time on the sidelines was extended by the COVID-19 pandemic, which left her frustrated at the time, but she now sees it as something positive.

"I came back even stronger and was even better equipped to play more. In retrospect, my knee has been doing very well. I've had little trouble. I feel physically stronger now than I did before," Haavi said.

After winning so many trophies in Norway, Haavi decided at the relatively late age of 29 that it was time to test her talents abroad, and that led to a move to the Eternal City at a time when Roma were parked in the middle of the Serie A Femminile.

The addition of the Norwegian provided a boost for Roma's attack, and they made last season's Women's Champions League quarter-finals after finishing second in their group behind German powerhouses VfL Wolfsburg.

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