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A new Portland Thorn has entered Providence Park.
Nina Nijstad did so without fanfare when she joined her Thorns teammates on the grass after a July 5 match against Racing Louisville. Two days later, her identity was revealed: The front office announced the 23-year-old midfielder’s signing through 2029.
With the club also cementing extended contracts with stalwart midfielder Jessie Fleming and sophomore forward Pietra Tordin last week, it feels like the Thorns are really starting to move beyond the franchise reset and roster turnover of the past couple of seasons.
And as the first player brought onto the team under the leadership of head coach Robert Vilahamn, Nijstad has been identified as a building block.
So who is she? The Dutch midfielder joins the club from PSV Eindhoven, a 90-minute drive outside Amsterdam, where she’s played since 2023. In her most recent season, she helped her team to a first-place finish in the Dutch Eredivisie and to a finalist position in the league’s cup, which PSV ended up losing in penalties. Though she’s still working for regular looks with her senior national team, Nijstad has represented her country four times and has recorded two goals in those appearances.
“She’s super nice,” Fleming said in a press conference before last weekend’s game against the Denver Summit, “always has a smile on her face. I’m super excited to get to play with her.”
Due to the league’s transfer window, Nijstad didn’t get to train alongside her new teammates until last week.
“I hope that I can connect with them on the field fast,” she tells WW after her first two days of practice.
That’s exactly the mentality you want from a player looking to break into the starting lineup alongside the likes of Fleming and Olivia Moultrie. Especially when she’ll be battling to earn that aforementioned starting role ahead of Swedish youth international Cassandra Bogere and rookies Jennie Immethun and Shae Harvey.
But Vilahamn isn’t trying to set inflated expectations around a young player who will still need to gel with the team and acclimate to the physicality and transitional nature of the NWSL.
“Hopefully, she can adapt to the league and training quickly so we can use her directly,” he said in a press conference earlier this month. “But obviously, I’m also aware that this league is the most physical and tough in the world.”
He’s prepared to give Nijstad whatever time she needs to adjust—while also pushing to get her on the field as soon as she’s ready.
That urgency stems from a sense that Portland hasn’t quite figured out how to balance its midfield since defensive midfielder Sam Coffey left the team in January.
Vilahamn isn’t necessarily looking for a like-for-like swap; rather than bringing in a new world-class defensive mid, he wants a second box-to-box player to complement Fleming. (Fleming, for her part, has been an instrumental part of Portland’s on-field success this year.)
“I think we just need to make sure we have two really good footballers who can handle those two roles in a different way,” Vilahamn said.
And while Bogere and Immethun have both shown themselves as options, Vilahamn feels they have room to develop. He’s looking for a player who is ready to step into that role this season.
That’s where Nijstad comes in.
“I do a lot of running,” she says, when asked to describe herself as a player. “I can cover a lot of meters—what do you use? Miles? Feet?”
She’s comfortable on the ball, she says, and she likes to be in situations where she’s dueling for the ball. Not to mention that, at 5-foot-9, she poses an aerial threat—an asset in high demand for Portland.
And she wants to keep growing as a player.
“I’m willing to work very hard for the team,” she says, “and I will always give 100%.”
Nijstad made her first appearance for the Thorns in Friday’s 2-2 draw against Gotham FC, subbing on for Bogere midway through the second half. She was coming off her first full week of training with the club—after she’d been available to participate in a couple days of practice the week prior.
Though she’s clearly still adjusting to her team (she spent a good chunk of those 21 minutes scanning the pitch, trying to figure out the best spaces to occupy given the positions of her teammates and opponents), she also showed flashes of the player she’ll settle into. She looked composed with the ball at her feet, ensured she stayed with the play and didn’t shy away from a physical challenge. (For the last of these, see: Nijstad’s shoulder-to-shoulder defensive battle with Gotham’s Sarah Schupansky in the 83rd minute, where she forced Schupansky wide, blocking Schupansky from whipping a cross in front of the Thorns’ goal.)
“She was doing everything we expected from her,” Vilahamn said after the match. “She’s very technical, knowledgeable and quick to adapt. She’s going to give us a lot of new dimensions in how we want to play.”
In the process of helping her new club contend for championships and aiming for more consistent minutes with the Dutch national team, Nijstad is excited to explore what Portland as a city has to offer. She hasn’t had a chance to try much, but she’s heard great things about the food scene—and rave reviews about the city’s matcha spots.
She’s looking forward to exploring the local farmers markets and to just go shopping.
“I didn’t bring that much, so I definitely need to do some shopping,” she says of her plans off the pitch. “That’s what I’m most excited about.”
Back in the Netherlands, she continues, “We don’t have a Target, we don’t have a Walmart.”
