Debinha has been ‘special’ for KC Current — for reasons you’d expect (and wouldn’t)
The Kansas City Current is off to a dominant start. And while Temwa Chawinga has been her usual dominant self, there’s another star on the team pushing the Current’s play to another level.
With her goal in the 16th minute of Saturday’s game, Debinha became the fifth player in NWSL history to record 50 goals and 25 assists in regular season play.
She joined a notable list with Lynn Biyendolo (previously Williams), Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Jessica McDonald.
Debinha, who is from Brasópolis, Brazil, has scored three goals in 2025 and provided one assist.
“When you’re fit and healthy and then you feel good, the performance is better, and then the performance makes you happier,” manager Vlatko Andonovski said Tuesday. “It’s just a big circle and she’s right in the middle of it. We all enjoy the performances, too, and celebrate it.”
Through four games in 2025, Debinha has already scored as many times as she did in all of 2024. Much of that was due to injury. Debinha’s hamstring injury in the 2024 opener at CPKC Stadium was the one dampener of a memorable day. It hung over her performances like a cloud even when she returned.
She wasn’t 100% fit, and she wasn’t 100% herself. She showed glimpses of the touches, turns, passes and chances, but the final product wasn’t always there.
North Carolina Courage manager Sean Nahas coached Debinha in North Carolina before she joined the Current in 2023. He spoke about Debinha last year after the Current’s 2-0 win over the Courage in the NWSL Summer Cup.
“I was around Deb for plenty of years,” Nahas said. “I’ve seen all those things … and I don’t think you guys have seen the best of Deb. I know the best of Deb, and if it ever gets back to that, it’s not going to be good for anybody.”
That’s certainly been true for opponents in 2025.
KC is tied for first on points with Orlando. The team is a perfect 4-0-0 with only one goal conceded and 10 goals scored through four games. Debinha is tied for the league lead in shot-creating actions (23), and the Current didn’t even take a shot the entire second half against San Diego.
She leads the NWSL in key passes (15), which are passes that either lead to a shot or to the pass before a shot. She’s fourth in the league in goal-creating actions per 90 minutes (1.03).
Those numbers can quantify how great she’s been in the final third, which is to be expected. But Andonovski is also singing her defensive praises.
“In every defensive review that we do, there is a video of her recovery and winning balls and intercepting (passes),” Andonovski said.
Her defensive numbers per 90 minutes are all above career averages so far, and she’s had 20 ball recoveries this season, an average of five per game. Additionally, she’s won possession back for the Current inside the final third six times with her high pressing.
“It’s something that we as team and as a staff celebrate and we appreciate,” Andonovski said. “To do all of that on the defensive (side) without neglecting or without losing a step on the attacking side, it is special.”