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Marie-Yasmine “Mimi” Alidou joined the Thorns shortly after the start of the 2025 season ready to take on her first challenge in the NWSL after an eight-year tenure abroad in Europe.
She arrived in Portland after a successful 2.5-year stint with Portugal giants SL Benfica. Across her two seasons in Benfica, Alidou scored 33 goals and assisted 7 to help the club lift the Campeonato Nacional Femenino (2023/24), the Taça de Portugal (2023/24) and back-to-back Taça de Ligas (2024, 2025) while also finishing as 2023 UEFA Women’s Champions League quarterfinalists, the farthest a Portuguese team has advanced in the tournament. She also spent time playing with league opponents Famalicão in 2022/23, helping the club lift its first ever Taça de Portugal Femenina.
Before her success in Portugal, her European career began with the historic French organization Marseille in 2017, and she would go on to appear for several other clubs in Sweden, Spain, Norway and Austria.
Alidou represents Canada at the international level, putting up five goals in eight appearances so far for the CanWNT and was a member of their 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup squad.