FEATURE: Janelle Cordia's Path from Missouri to Italy
9/1/2020 3:43:00 PM | Soccer
Former Mizzou Soccer player enters new season of her professional career
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Competitive drive and hard work: two traits that have stuck with Janelle Cordia throughout her professional career— one that has spanned 12 years and four countries.
"I think they're two of the things that have gotten me as far as I am," Cordia said. "That fighting mentality is something that I think a lot of coaches see in me and it's a necessity to have on the field. I'm lucky to have been through those experiences at Mizzou and to have been taught how much that can positively affect the game for myself and my team."
We chatted with @JanelleCordia on playing at the highest level and the mental toughness of being a professional soccer player. #MizzouMade pic.twitter.com/DHKPULCjZW
— Mizzou Soccer (@MizzouSoccer) July 12, 2017
Cordia is a professional soccer player for Italian club ACF Fiorentina of Serie A. Based in Florence, Cordia joined La Viola in June of 2019 and has since established herself as a veteran force. Before making a name for herself in Europe, however, Cordia had her start in the heart of the Show-Me State: Columbia, Missouri.
For as long as she can remember, Cordia has been around a soccer ball. While her older siblings started playing before she was born, Cordia picked up the sport by joining a recreational team when she was five years old. There were no recreational girls teams in Columbia at the time, Cordia resorted to playing with a boys team until she was able to switch onto a more competitive squad.
Following her time in competitive leagues around Mid-Missouri, Cordia decided to stay in Columbia and play collegiately for Mizzou from 2005 to 2008. While picking up a degree in education, the defender made the most of her time in the Black and Gold, and she describes her time in Columbia as career-altering.
"A lot actually," Cordia said of what she took away from her time at Mizzou. "A lot of the stuff that you go through there is still stuff that I think about as I play today. Mizzou really did have that family feel to it. I know a lot of people say that now, but it really felt that way there.
"Even when I go back now, I am able to take advantage of facilities and stuff like that which is really nice. I still feel welcome there and I think that's pretty awesome. Still being able to talk with some of the players who are going through it now and then wanting to come out and try to play professionally."
While finishing her degree in education, Cordia took a year off from playing and instead devoted her time to coaching. During that year, she realized she wasn't ready to have her playing days be behind her.
"The last year that I was there I wasn't playing, which was really strange," Cordia said. "My fifth year I was just there, and thought, honestly, I was done. But I coached while I was student teaching and through that, I realized that I wasn't done developing as a player."
After a brief stint with Hudson Valley Quickstrike FC in New York, Cordia made the jump to play professionally in Europe. Her first stop was Åland United of Finland's Kansallinen Liiga, a club at the top flight of Finnish soccer in an island town less than a tenth of the size of Columbia in population.
"It was definitely a change," Cordia said. "In college and as an athlete you have a lot of resources that you don't have out in the world. As much as the game has grown in the past ten years, it's a lot different now. For me just to be out on my own in a place where people don't speak the same language it was really different. I was lucky enough to be in a place where there were a lot of other internationals, so it was pretty easy to transition into the team."
Cordia would win her first trophy with Åland United as the club claimed its first league title in 2013 after topping perennial powerhouse PK-35 Vantaa. Additionally, Cordia would help the Finnish club increase in standings each season from fourth (2011) to second (2012) to, finally first (2013).
"I don't think I realized kind of how exciting it was at the time because it's your job and you have to do it," Cordia said of winning her first trophy and improvements of Åland United. "Looking back on it, it's pretty good to have done it in different countries as well. It's pretty cool and just the journey from when I came to the team in Finland was nice to have to be a part of that growth within the team."
Following three seasons in Finland, Cordia aimed to raise her game with a move to Fortuna Hjørring in January of 2014. Fortuna Hjørring is another small-town club located in Hjørring, Denmark, and plays in the Elitedivisionen.
With Fortuna Hjørring, Cordia claimed three league titles, two Danish Cups and appeared in the UEFA Women's Champions League every season she played with the club. Among notable clubs Hjørring had played against in Champions League competition with Cordia on the team include her future club, Fiorentina, Athletic Bilbao, and, most notably, a quarter-final clash with Manchester City and Carli Lloyd.
"It (was) a great experience being able to play against some of the best players in the world," Cordia said of her Champions League experiences. "It was really cool to be on the field and see how amazing some of these players are but then at the same time, how you can compare yourself to them, and grow in your own game. I think it's pretty cool."
After a successful five season stint in Denmark, Cordia decided to take her talents to Florence where she joined Italy's Fiorentina in the summer of 2019. Cordia was hit with the difference in quality as well as a Champions League matchup with Arsenal in her first few months in the central-Italian City.
"It's very different," Cordia said of Italy. "Scandinavia in general, is a bit better at English so the language has been something that you really have to throw yourself into. I could speak Danish because I was in Denmark for five and a half years, but here, you definitely have to try to pick up things quickly, which is good. I think it's great whenever you're playing abroad to be able to throw yourself into that part of the culture as well. They have a lot of respect for you as a person whenever you do try.
"Also, the football is much different," Cordia added. "The techniques that most of the players have here is at a really high base level, which is different than what we're used to. It's been nice to be forced to work on those things."
While her first season in Italy was interrupted by COVID-19, Cordia is looking forward to getting back on the pitch.
"I've never experienced anything like it, no one has," Cordia said of the pandemic. "It's definitely tested me as a person, being isolated that much because I have been here the whole time. Then we're waiting and waiting to find out if we were going to play again or not play again. We've started training already and the buildup has gone well, so I think it'll be an exciting season.
The 2019-2020 season was suspended in March due to COVID-19 and eventually terminated in June. Fiorentina finished second in the league standings behind Juventus. Cordia returned to action with Fiorentina for matchday one on Aug. 22m facing Inter Milan in Florence.
Keep doing your thing, @JanelleCordia! #MizzouMade x #MIZ ???? pic.twitter.com/4JkCajASmz
— Mizzou Soccer (@MizzouSoccer) June 13, 2020
Looking back on her journey from Missouri to Italy, playing soccer on the world's biggest stage for a club ranked 24th in Europe according to UEFA's club coefficients, Cordia isn't shy about remembering how she got here.
"It's crazy, especially in Champions League games where that's not even something that I knew about as a kid," Cordia said. "My family's a baseball and basketball family. My sister played soccer and we were aware of soccer within the US but not as big as it is. I think it's crazy to be experiencing something that I didn't even know was a possibility.
With those possibilities comes an exponential amount of growth in women's soccer since Cordia's upbringing in Columbia. With the growth of the NWSL domestically and FIFA's focus on the women's game, the possibilities are only just emerging.
"I think it's really exciting," Cordia said. "They're starting to put more money into it, which I think is great for a lot of people over here in the US. There's a lot more focus on football. From a younger age already, which is pretty exciting to see how that will affect the development of young players as well."
Today and always, Cordia's family has been amongst her biggest supporters. From her first days playing in Columbia to early mornings catching her European football action—and still even attending an occasional Mizzou soccer match, Cordia credits her family with helping her get to where she is today.
At the end of the day, Cordia understands what it took to get to where she is today and knows what it takes for others to replicate that success.
"For anyone who is playing at Mizzou now or wanting to go there, where you are is your path and with hard work, you can accomplish a lot," Cordia concluded.
For all the latest on Mizzou Soccer, stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @MizzouSoccer.
