The Afghan-Danish player fled Afghanistan at the age of 11 to escape the Taliban regime and today, she is a national-level football player. This is her story.
I was born on 2nd of January 1988 in Herat Afghanistan where I was raised by my mother and father, together with my four sisters.
When I was young, I got the heart breaking news that the Taliban had executed my father. After that, my family decided to escape Afghanistan, as it was not a safe place for a family of 6 women’s.
We planned to escape to London, where we had a few relatives, and with forged passports we came to Italy through Pakistan. From there, my entire family and I went on a truck, thinking we where heading towards London. After a few days, we all turfed of the truck, expecting to see Big Ben. We did not. All we saw was trees. We asked a passer-by and found out that the bus had dropped us in Denmark. A small country in the northern parts of Europe, that I refer to as home.
I began my professional career playing for B52 in Aalborg, and then I came to represent Team Viborg, IK Skovbakken and Fortuna Hjørring. At Fortuna, I made my Champions League debut in September 2012, scoring both goals when we beat Scottish champions Glasgow City 2-1.
I made my debut for the Danish national team in Algarve Cup 2009, and have since then proudly represented my country 73 times, earning 1x UEFA Euro’s bronze medal, and one UEFA Euro’s silver medal, after a though loss against the hosting nation, Holland in 2017.
Apart from playing football, I’m also a medical student at Aarhus University, and quite soon my title will become Dr Nadim. I speak 9 languages fluently, and I’m constant in the process of taking on new challenges.
-“I have one goal in life, I want to be the best, in everything I do,”
