Ascent Soccer standout scores in Montpellier debut

Two-time Malawi Player of the Year, Rose Kadzere (18) made the most of her first twenty minutes of Premiere Ligue football action on Sunday, collecting a goal and an assist in Montpellier HSC’s 7-0 win over visiting En Avant Guingamp.

Just five minutes into her debut, Kadzere picked out Haitian international Kethna Louis racing down the left flank, who coolly slotted home Montpellier’s sixth goal of the night. Just six minutes later, it was Kadzere’s turn to find the back of the net, as she attacked an inswinging corner kick, meeting it with a clever glancing header for her first professional goal.

“I am so happy to score and help my team,” shared a beaming Kadzere, who has been a full-time academy player with Ascent Soccer since 2018, and in October she became Malawi's first ever player (male or female) to make a direct professional football move to one of Europe's top five leagues.

The victory moved Montpellier into a tie for fifth-place in France’s top division, six points behind league-leading Lyon, where Tabitha Chawinga, Kadzere’s national team teammate, plies her trade.

Since her arrival in France, Kadzere has made an immediate impact in training, scored in her only reserve team appearance and hit the field in just her second outing with the Montpellier first team.