Debinha’s with Brazil at World Cup. KC Current are seeking a solution in her absence

Debinha has been the superstar the Kansas City Current hoped they were getting when she signed as a free agent this past offseason.

Now the Brazilian superstar is headed to the World Cup, having scored nine goals and recorded an assist in 15 games across all competitions with the Current.

Her World Cup journey figures to last about a month, leaving the Current (4-0-9) without their best player for at least two National Women’s Soccer League matches and three Challenge Cup matches.

“First of all, I’m happy that Debinha is in the World Cup,” interim Current coach Caroline Sjöblom said. “It’s a big thing for me as a coach, but especially for the club, to have a player in the World Cup.”

The Current are confronted with a difficult proposition, to be sure, but they’re confident they have the talent and depth to survive Debinha’s absence. Sjöblom said the team has tested a few players in the No. 10 role during training and has a solution to fill that space.

While it’s near impossible to replicate Debinha’s skill-set, Sjöblom suggested there will be a give-and-take in qualities at that position.

“Of course we’re gonna lose some creativity,” Sjöblom acknowledged. “But then maybe we get something else that Debinha hasn’t brought to the team. So I see it like a plus-minus, and we’ll see the result.”

The Current’s first test without their talented Brazilian scorer comes Saturday, when KC visits the Portland Thorns for a match that starts at 9 p.m. Central Time.

Brazil hasn’t failed to make it out of the group stage of the World Cup since 1995. With a lineup featuring Debinha and other stars in their prime, Brazil once again seems poised to reach the knockout rounds.

A quarterfinal appearance for Brazil could be enough to keep Debinha from playing in the Current’s first league match following the World Cup’s group stage, which is one of KC’s three remaining regular-season home matches.

If Brazil makes it to the semifinals, Debinha could miss up to seven of the Current’s matches. And an absence like that would be a significant challenge for a team that desperately needs a late-season charge to as much as qualify for the NWSL postseason one year after playing the Thorns for the league championship.

On the bright side, Debinha’s absence is one of potentially just two for the Current during the World Cup. Canada has yet to announce its official roster, but KC’s Desiree Scott is on her national team’s preliminary list and is training with the squad in Australia. If she’s healthy enough, there is a good chance this will be Scott’s final World Cup appearance.

With just Debinha and possibly Scott away on national-team duty, the Current are thus one of a handful of NWSL teams whose rosters won’t be significantly shrunk by World Cup obligations.

And that could be an advantage Saturday night at Portland, as the Thorns — due to their own players’ World Cup duty and/or injuries — will be suiting up without Sophia Smith, Crystal Dunn, Christine Sinclair, Hina Sugita, Adriana Leon (whose loan also ended recently), Raquel “Rocky” Rodriguez and Becky Sauerbrunn.

Then again, Sjöblom knows the Thorns boast a very deep roster.

“Of course, they’re going to miss players like Sophia Smith, Sinclair, Dunn,” she said. “But they have other players at home. Their backline is kind of the same despite Sauerbrunn, and then they have Morgan Weaver, a really, really good player.

“But for us, as a team, it’s a good advantage to play against Portland right now.”