Valerin Loboa: Colombia's Future

Valerin Loboa was born on July 3, 2007. She is eighteen. She has already won a Colombian league title, played six matches at the CONMEBOL Copa America, scored an international goal for Colombia, and helped her country qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. She did all of this before she could legally vote. The Portland Thorns signed her from Deportivo Cali in September 2025 and locked her up through 2028 with a 2029 option. They're not building for next month. They're building for the next decade. Loboa is the cornerstone.

From Cali to Portland at 17

Loboa signed with Deportivo Cali as a teenager. Over four years -- four years that started when she was 14 -- she made 35 appearances and scored 8 goals. She won the 2024 Colombian Women's Football League title. Then the Thorns came calling. She transferred to Portland in September 2025 and made her NWSL debut on September 26, coming on as a substitute in a 3-0 loss to Gotham. The result doesn't matter. What matters is that an 18-year-old from Cali was on an NWSL pitch.

The Copa America

Colombia called her up for the 2025 CONMEBOL Copa America. She played all six matches. She scored her first international goal. She helped Colombia qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. International tournaments test players in ways club football doesn't -- the pressure, the stakes, the scrutiny. Loboa didn't flinch. At 17 at the time. She just played.

What the Future Looks Like

The contract runs through 2028 with a 2029 option. The Thorns have her through her early twenties -- the years where raw talent gets refined into something dangerous. She'll compete for minutes alongside Wilson, Turner, Tordin, and Moultrie. The learning curve is real. The NWSL is faster and more physical than Colombian women's football. But the ceiling for a player with this trajectory -- international experience at 17, league title, Olympic qualifying -- is genuinely hard to estimate. The Thorns are betting it's very, very high.