In her 21 years playing the game, Luana says football has taught her a lot in life: how to work with other people, how to be responsible, how to find strength and trust within oneself in tough moments.

The midfielder’s resilience and grit through adversity, reflect how strength is imparted beyond the field: an injury from last year kept Luana out of the game for 282 days, requiring her to spend a lot of time alone without the group – but the player’s now returned stronger than ever.

“It was a tough moment… you’re always working alone with the physio, and it requires a lot of concentration and focus on what you're doing and what you have to do. It's a long process, and I think it made me more patient too," Luana says.

Luana’s approach to life shows that a commitment to football is also a commitment to oneself – where one creates a balance on and off the field by taking the time to rest, and living life the best way one can.

“My family is not here but I've met a lot of people, and the girls from the team, so I try to go out as much as possible: to have a good time, good energy and good laughs and then when we go back to the pitch we're a 100 percent focused," Luana says.

Luana’s antidote to decompress before a game is to “just be chill” with the help of Brazilian music, and to keep things simple.