Indian football player Aditi Chauhan has drawn curtains on her international career. She has come a long way from the time she played football but didn`t even know that an Indian women`s national football team existed.
“Playing football, I didn`t know there was a national team first of all. So I started because of the fun of the game,” said Chauhan in an interview with PTI.
She also said that she never even imagined her achievements in her dream. “When I started, I never imagined that, you know, everything that I achieved… it was not even a dream that I could imagine,” she added.
When asked if she would like to take up a coaching role for the upcoming generation, the 32-year-old said, “I would love to. These last few years also, I`ve been mentoring the other goalkeepers. I enjoy that role. I don`t want to commit that I want to get into coaching. But yes, I would definitely like to help out”.
During her playing days, Aditi Chauhan also became the first Indian woman to play professional football in Europe.
During a successful international career, Chauhan, who caught everyone`s attention after being signed up by West Ham United for the Women`s Super League in England in 2015, donned the India jersey 57 times and, among others, was part of the senior teams that won the SAFF Women`s Championship in 2012, 2016 and 2019. She has also won gold medals at the South Asian Games.
The Chennai-born goalkeeper also opened up about the phase when she suffered ACL injuries, but always wanted to reclaim her spot in the team after her injuries.
“Last year when I came back from my second ACL and played the IWL (Indian Women`s League), my whole reason for coming back… was to find that joy again. I didn`t want to leave football on a sour note with an injury. There were other goalkeepers playing. So, I had to again earn that spot in starting 11… I knew that once I`m back on the field, I`ll earn my number one spot. And I did,” she concluded.
(With PTI Inputs)
