Lily Yohannes: Ajax’s Lindsey Horan and Lauren James-inspired teen who the USWNT look set to lose to the Netherlands
22 March 2024
The youngest player to start a Women’s Champions League group game also cites Neymar and Eden Hazard as role models, and it shows in her creativity
When a young player steps up into the first team at any club, it might take the senior players a bit of time to trust them, to give them the ball in pressure situations, to see them as a player who can contribute right now at the top level. But when 16-year-old Lily Yohannes was integrated into Ajax's first team at the start of this season, there was little hesitation from the group. They knew almost straight away that she was a special talent.
That's how Ajax captain Sherida Spitse remembers it, anyway. "You feel directly, 'Okay, I can play her the ball. That is a player that can do something with the ball, to create something for us'," she told GOAL this month when asked about Yohannes' early days with the team. "She's a good player, she's a nice person and she can learn a lot of things, but she's doing a really good job and I'm happy that she is in my team and our team."
Yohannes will be glad that she is in Spitse's team, too, because the way she speaks about the teenager indicates a true captain. "She just needs to play," the 33-year-old, and only player over 30 in Ajax's team, added."She is 16 and she is good because she is just playing and doesn't think so much about everything around her. That is the responsibility for other people around her, like for me, the other captains, the team. She just needs to do what she can.
"Of course, you cannot lose the ball too easy, too often, and we say that to her. But in the end, she needs to focus on her football. She is just only 16 years old so just let her play football. That is the most important thing, I think, and the rest is our responsibility."
With a leader like that around her every day, Yohannes might be in the best place possible for her development. Her first senior season certainly indicates as much, with her thriving in the Eredivisie and the UEFA Women's Champions League.
Now, she is set to show that talent on the international stage after winning her first United States women's national team call-up ahead of the SheBelieves Cup, making her the youngest player to be included in a full camp since Sophia Smith back in 2017.
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Where it all began
Born in Springfield, Virginia, Yohannes always had soccer in her blood thanks to her Eritrean grandfather, Bokretsion Gebrehiwot, who scored a famous halfway-line goal at the 1968 Africa Cup of Nations. That passion for the sport is shared throughout the family, with the Ajax teenager spending her childhood training with her father and her two brothers in the basement of their house.
Aged 10, the family had a change of scenery when Yohannes’ father’s work took them from the United States to the Netherlands. It was in Europe that the youngster started to play regularly for a boys’ team for the first time, but she hardly struggled to adapt and her stand-out efforts would soon attract the attention of Ajax, who offered her a trial.
Having successfully navigated that, Yohannes started with the club’s talent academy, playing with boys’ and girls’ sides, before moving into the women's reserves aged 15. The youngest player in that team, she continued to shine and signed her first professional contract at Ajax in April of last year, two months before her 16th birthday.
The big break
Having trained with them a few times before, Yohannes was integrated into Ajax’s first team ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, debuting as a starter in the Super Cup back in September. She’s rarely relinquished her role in the XI since, and it has been in the Champions League that the 16-year-old has really broken through and marked herself out as one to watch.
She became the youngest player ever to start a UWCL group-stage match when she lined-up against Paris Saint-Germain in November, an occasion she rose to when her pass through to Romee Leuchter kickstarted the attack that saw Ajax break the deadlock in a famous 2-0 victory.
From there, Yohannes continued to catch the eye on the European stage, and her performances helped the Dutch side cause a serious upset by out-qualifying Bayern Munich and Roma, both quarter-finalists last year, to reach the last eight of the UWCL for the first time in club history.
How it's going
As well as starring for Ajax in Europe, Yohannes has racked up four goals and three assists in 15 appearances during her first season in the Eredivisie, 12 of those starts, and those contributions look set to help secure the club’s place in Champions League qualifying next season.
On the international front, Yohannes hasn’t been called up for the United States youth teams for two years now, and the signs suggest that her path could be about to change, with the Netherlands keen to bring her into its set-up.
The 16-year-old is eligible for a Dutch passport and Oranje head coach Andries Jonker told NOS in January that the process of getting her to play for his team was “underway”. “All possible steps are being taken in that," he said. "I hope she gets to play for the Netherlands as a football star, especially because she feels Dutch.”
However, nothing is done quite yet. In late March, the USWNT announced its SheBelieves Cup roster and, for the first time, Yohannes was included. A debut would not tie her to the U.S. as it is only a friendly competition, but it would be a step in the right direction for the four-time world champion when it comes to securing her international future.
Image Credit: Getty
Biggest strengths
A confident, attack-minded midfielder with bags of tricks, Yohannes loves to pick the ball up and drive at defenders. She poses a real threat with her eye for a pass and ability to get involved in the goals, too. When watching Ajax, you’ll often see the teenager drift into those inside channels and link-up with the wide players, especially on the left. From there, she can cut inside onto her preferred right foot and catch a look at goal.
But while her most eye-catching traits reside in that final third, Yohannes can also be a real asset on the other side of the ball. Regular exposure to boys’ football over the last few years has made her stronger and she can more than hold her own in her duels as a result, even though she can still develop physically given her young age.
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Room for improvement
As a 16-year-old attacking player, the obvious improvement that Yohannes can make – and likely will make, given her rapid progress – is in that decision-making in the final third. It’s already at a good level, especially for her age, but will get even better with time and experience.
More confident use of her left foot would be nice to see, too. The teenager is more than competent with her weaker wing, as her passing game shows, but more regular use of it in situations where chances can be created will make her more unpredictable and a dual threat, especially in those wide areas.
Perhaps most exciting about Yohannes, though, is that she comes across as someone who wants to constantly improve. Football is always on her television at home and she dedicates time to analysis, both of training sessions and the games of the opposition. She wants to be a sponge and absorb anything that will help her to get better.
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The next... Lauren James?
Lauren James, Neymar and Eden Hazard are three of the four names that Yohannes threw out when asked by NOS about her role models, and you can see that in her game, as her dribbling and desire to run at defences is what so often stands out.
It’s easy to make the comparison to James, then, and Yohannes has even done it herself, telling the Equalizer: “Her passing quality is something that I think is one of my key traits, something that you can maybe see some resemblance with me. I like those types of players because they’re creative players, creating opportunities, and helping to connect the play within the team. Those are some of the qualities that I like to contribute.”
The fourth name the teenager mentioned to NOS was a different type of player: USWNT star Lindsey Horan. Yohannes is still developing that defensive side of her game and she is drawing inspiration from Horan’s ability in duels, as well as her passing, as she does so.
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What comes next?
After bursting onto the scene so young and so quickly, the key for Yohannes moving forward will be to build on this breakthrough season and keep taking strides forward with her game as she does so. A senior international debut is clearly not too far away either, though who will win the tug-of-war between the U.S. and the Netherlands remains to be seen.
Whoever she declares for, experience of the world stage will only be a catalyst in Yohannes’ development and aid her as she continues on this remarkably steep trajectory towards the very top of the sport.