"I learned from the matches I watched on TV": how a girl from Tajikistan builds a football career in Russia

When a person has a goal in life, and most importantly - the desire to achieve it, nothing can stop him.

Madina Munosibshozoda was brought up according to all the customs of the East.

Her native Tajikistan is a strict Muslim country, where centuries-old traditions are laid from childhood: respect for elders, modesty and obedience.

But the girl did not want to live by the rules and prohibitions.

For her, the goal and her own freedom were more important.

Therefore, she gave up the usual rhythm of life in order to move to Moscow and break the prevailing stereotypes that football is a man's occupation.

“In the evenings, I took the ball and went out into the yard to learn dribbling on my own, spending two hours training every day.

When I started playing football, Lionel Messi was my idol.

He is the first footballer I liked.

I fell in love with dribbling and other tricks, I wanted to play the same way, ”Madina told RT.

According to her, it is incredibly difficult to independently learn from scratch one of the most popular games in the world, especially when you have no one to ask for help and advice, and you are a young schoolgirl.

She was constantly told that football is a sport for boys and that she would not succeed.

“I didn’t know anything, I didn’t have a telephone or internet, I learned from the matches I watched on TV.

I was glad for my first achievement, when I just managed to mint with a ball - first with one foot, then with the other, and it took a lot of time.

Familiar boys were shocked by what I can already do when I became the only girl in the team, ”the athlete recalls.

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Publication from Girlpower Football Club (@girlpower_fc)

Have you ever had to lose close childhood friends and be betrayed by someone you have trusted over the years?

Madina knows this better than anyone else.

She had a choice: keep playing or lose her best friend.

And the girl preferred football.

“I had a best friend with whom we were friends since childhood, it was much more interesting for him to play football with me than with other guys.

We've always been together.

As he grew up, other boys started laughing at him because of his friendship with me.

After that, he stopped communicating with me.

Now we don't keep in touch at all, ”Madina says.

At the age of 16, she was fond of drawing and sports, but she did not study very well at school.

After finishing the ninth grade, my mother offered to move to Moscow to continue her studies at the capital's college.

Then the girl planned to engage in fights without rules and even found herself a coach and a group, but her mother forbade her to do this, as she was afraid for her daughter's health.

She was also against the hobby for football, but Madina could not give up her old dream and dared to set a condition.

“I said that I would go to play football in Moscow, even if I was banned. Otherwise, I will not do anything at all. Mom was against training, but she had to give up. I was ashamed to tell her this, but I wanted to go in for sports. I had a strict father, but, unfortunately, he left. Now I call my uncle dad, we have a good relationship, and he always believed in me, allowed me to go in for sports. But my mother did her best for me and even bought new pairs of sneakers several times, ”she says.

In Moscow, Madina joined the GirlPower women's football school, which is supported by the RFU.

On its base there are several teams with different levels of physical fitness and ball possession, denoted by one letter - A, Z or V. Very quickly, the athlete from Tajikistan moved from the category of beginners to the experienced group V and is now playing as a defender.

Thanks to her success, she got the chance to study on the scholarship program and attend the club's classes for free.

Workouts take place twice a week and on average last from one and a half to two hours.

Football players start with a warm-up, work according to the coach's scheme, and then play team for team.

“On the first day, when I was given a real football uniform and boots, I remembered a moment from my childhood.

Then I stood in front of the mirror and said to myself: "Someday I will definitely play in real football uniform."

To be honest, I couldn't believe that I would succeed, but dreams really do come true, ”Madina adds.

Of course, having friends is very important, especially when a person finds himself in a new environment where people speak a foreign language and are brought up according to different traditions.

And when you are very young, it is even more difficult to get used to extreme conditions.

But it was football that helped Madina solve this problem, since thanks to him she quickly became part of the team.

The girl has already found good friends for herself both in the team and in Moscow as a whole.

Moreover, her college friends admire her unusual hobby.

“It was difficult to get used to the new atmosphere, I found a common language for a long time, as I was constantly silent and worried.

During classes, the coach made me shout to be given a pass, asked why I was afraid of everything.

This is how I learned to deal with fear, ”she admits.

Madina believes that girls should not be afraid to play football.

In her opinion, if there is a desire, then it is necessary to try, and one day it will definitely work out, even if everyone around says that it is not yours.

That is why the athlete does not agree with the stereotype that football is not a woman's occupation.

“Many times I wanted to give up and quit football.

But then I realized that I couldn't, my conscience just wouldn't let me do it.

I’ve already told everyone that I’ll play, so I can’t give up.

Before, I almost did not believe that I would ever do what I am doing now.

I could not imagine that I would live and play in Moscow.

But my goals are so important to me that I even tell my friends that I will die on the football field and never leave it, ”the girl says.

Madina is a fan of PSG, the French national team and the Brazilian national team.

He watches the Champions League and hopes to someday be able to perform at the same high level.

She wants her successful game to be seen by those people who have never believed in her.

Another big dream is to meet Neymar.

“When I came to study at the presidential school in Tajikistan, I immediately made myself two photocopies of Neymar's photographs.

I put them near the bed and every night I looked at them and repeated to myself that sooner or later I would definitely see him.

I always wanted his equipment, but so far I have not been able to find it.

But someday I will definitely buy it, ”the athlete notes.

For a young girl, football has become a whole life, gave her self-confidence.

And now she can teach others and pass on her own skills to the younger generation.

“I have a younger brother who is only five years old.

At first he loved basketball, but now he looks at me and says that he will also play football.

It turns out that now he takes an example from me.

We play together in the yard with him, ”says Madina.

In Moscow, she found her way in football, and most importantly, she found herself and her own freedom, got a chance for self-expression.

Now the girl dresses as she wants, does not wear dresses and heels, cut her long hair and left herself the short haircut that she had long wanted.

It seems that nothing is impossible for a young football player.

For her, only the goal of achieving success in sports and the message that she would like to show by example matter.

“I would advise you to listen only to your soul, to live for yourself, and not for the sake of other people, and do what you want.

When you listen to someone else's opinion, you no longer know what to do, live under someone's influence and can no longer make a decision.

So you lose yourself and your way, ”concluded Madina.