The Little 'Cili Padi' Who Proved That Girls Can Be Great Footballers Too
She may be small, but Nina is determined to show the world that girls can be as good as - if not better than - boys at football.
Published for Sponsored , 05 Mar 2015, 12:31 PM
"Perempuan tak boleh main, kena masak kat rumah." For Nur Imanina Aqilah, affectionately known as Nina, that statement could not be less true.
Nina started playing football at the age of seven, as she often followed her father and brother to football trainings. She had hoped to represent her school at football, but the school does not have a girls' football team yet.
A futsal tournament was finally organised for the girls after Nina spoke to her teacher a few times. She did not just captain her own team, they eventually emerged as champions of the tournament!
Nina's passion for football earned her a place in a ten-day football camp, where she was trained by coaches from 1MCC and even awarded "Player of the Week" despite being smaller than the other participants
In fact, Nina said that her small stature actually gave her an advantage over the taller girls, as her speed and flexibility enabled her to outrun most of them during training.
Nina, whose favourite footballer is Cristiano Ronaldo, hopes to play for the national women's football team when she grows up
The little dynamite also has a word of advice for girls who are not that good at football, urging them not to give up and to work hard at improving their skills. As she puts it, "Usaha itu tangga kejayaan!"
