Reading striker Deanne Rose might only be seven months into her senior club career, but her aspirations to be one of Europe’s elite and inspire the next generation of young girls to pursue their footballing dreams is evident.
“My biggest goal is to be performing consistently and scoring and creating goals consistently. I feel like I’m taking steps forward to doing that,” she tells me.
At just 22, the Canadian is already an Olympic gold medal winner and has made 61 caps for her country at senior level. However, her success wasn’t always as clear in her own mind. She says: “When I was younger, I thought that being a professional footballer would be a cool job, but I didn’t think of it as being realistic until I got older. I didn’t realise that I was as good as I was, it was always a dream, but it seemed so far-fetched.”
Rose was born and raised in Ontario, and first began playing football aged four. Legends such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were among her idols when she was growing up. As well as stars of the of the women’s game, including Sydney Leroux and Christine Sinclair.
The rise of women’s football in recent years has been positive, with an increasing number of televised matches and dedicated programmes. However, it wasn’t always as easy for young girls to watch their heroes perform on the big stage. The 22-year-old explains: “When I was young, I remember that sometimes you couldn’t even watch it anywhere, you could only watch in person. Even though there are more steps to take forward, we have taken steps and it’s looking positive for the future.”
Campaigns to promote young girls playing football include the FA launched Let Girls Play, and Rose has her own ideas on how to promote the next generation of women athletes. She says: “I think that social media and media & entertainment is a really big part of this generation. I think to attack it that way would be smart. From a young age being able to see those role models in a certain light would help motivate young women to keep going.”
During Rose’s youth career, she played for Alliston SC, Bradford SC and Scarborough GS United. As well as being nominated for BMO Canadian Player of the Year.
In December 2015, Rose made her senior international debut in a tournament in Brazil. She was just 16 at the time. The striker reflects: “Even though it was so long ago I can still harness those emotions that I had of just pure nerves and naiveness. It was my first time playing for Canada even in the youth when I played that game, it was a crazy experience. I don’t think I knew what it meant to play for Canada then because we were in a remote city in Brazil, but I realise now how big of a deal that really was. I can work through those emotions more now than I could when I was in the moment.”
Rose didn’t have to wait long for her first senior goals for her country. She netted twice as Canada defeated Guyana 5-0 in an Olympic qualifying match just two months after her debut, while sporting the number six shirt that she continues to wear for club and country today.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut despite flourishing on the international stage so soon, her journey was far from straightforward. Rose says: “From when I was 15 to 17, I didn’t make the national teams. That was kind of when I really didn’t think that being a professional was a possibility, and it’s quite a late age to think that. I took being cut from that team hard, but luckily things progressed from there.”
The Ontarian moved over 1500 miles away from her hometown when she attended the University of Florida to study Sociology. During her college career, she scored 19 goals in 51 appearances for the Gators over a four-year spell. In January 2021, Rose was drafted by the North Carolina Courage, before her playing rights were traded to the Orlando Pride later in the year.
The Canadian secured a two-year deal with the Royals in July 2021. Little did she know that just weeks later, she would help guide Canada to their first footballing gold medal in over a century, in the Tokyo Olympic games.
Embed from Getty ImagesA 1-1 stalemate with Sweden after extra-time in Yokohama meant penalties to crown the Olympic champions. The Swede’s were 2-1 up after they’d taken all five spot kicks, which meant Rose had to score to keep her nations hopes alive. She reflects: “It was a whirlwind of nerves! We had practiced penalties so many times throughout the tournament, so it was just going back to what I’d practiced. It helped that there was not a lot of fans, actually there were no fans!”
Sweden’s following attempt was saved, which gave Julia Grosso the opportunity to bring a footballing gold medal back to Canada for the first time since 1904. An opportunity that she took. Rose smiles: “Again, a whirlwind of emotions and excitement, that moment when we actually won was just the biggest relief ever.”
The Canadian has contributed six goals and assists in the WSL this season, including the decisive goal in the Royals’ 1-0 victory over Emma Hayes’ Chelsea in November.
Having already achieved so much in a short space of time, Rose is hungry for more success for both club and country. With the Women’s World Cup only a year away, Canada are looking to make their mark on the tournament that they have historically struggled in. Rose says determinedly: “We’ve done it all on the Olympic side so the World Cup is the next big goal. It is a completely different beast to the Olympics, but I believe that we are ready to take that step forward.”
Joe Dixon Journalism 