Los Angeles Sol signs Chinese, French and Swedish stars

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The Los Angeles Sol has added three international stars to its roster with the signing of Chinese forward Han Duan, French midfielder Camile Abily and Swedish defender Johanna Frisk.

The Sol, which opens play in Women’s Professional Soccer on March 29 at the Home Depot Center, already has Brazilian striker Marta and Japanese midfielder Aya Miyama under contract, and now sports even more of an international flavor.

‘I think each player we signed brings something to the table that makes us better as a club,’ said Charlie Naimo, the team’s general manager.

Duan, 25, a two-time Olympian, has played almost 20 games for China’s women’s national team and was so highly regarded that she finished seventh in the voting for FIFA’s women’s world player of the year in 2006. Teammate Marta, who arrived in Los Angeles late Thursday night, has won the award in each of the last three years.

Abily, 24, an attacking midfielder, has been a fixture on the French women’s national team since 2001, playing in 46 games and scoring eight goals. She was most recently with Olympique Lyonnais, which she helped win a league championship in 2007 and where she was twice named the team’s player of the year.

Frisk, 22, has been playing for six-time Swedish champion Umea IK since 2006 as a teammate of Marta.

For more on the Sol, including its 2009 schedule, go to: http://www.womensprosoccer.com/la/

-- Grahame L. Jones