‘India is not here to just have fun’ — With the World Cup in sight, Aveka Singh eyes a breakthrough at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup

It has been more than a decade since Indian women footballers broke new ground and played abroad. It started with former international goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan, who stayed for English side West Ham. A few years later, Bala Devi scored a historic goal for Rangers in Scotland. Then came Manisha Kalyan, who has been playing abroad since 2022, with a recent move to Peru’s first division, adding yet another dimension to the 24-year-old’s already illustrious club career.

One of the latest Indians to play in Europe is Aveka Singh. She represents Naestved HG, a second division team in Denmark, where she has played eight matches and scored one goal. Going abroad to play had always been on a teenage Aveka’s radar, and the opportunity to represent India at the Under-17 World Cup on home soil in 2020 had presented itself. But fate took it away.

«I was in the first batch of players. We had been preparing there for a year, and then unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic happened. The tournament was postponed and our batch was pushed out. And then I think the next batch played, which was also wonderful. But I didn’t get the chance to play that,» Aveka revealed to Sports stars.

But in a day’s time, the young midfielder will get the chance to represent the senior national team when the country faces Vietnam in the opening match of the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, with a place in the World Cup at stake.

From Delhi to Denmark

Aveka’s career progressed very naturally. She kicked around for the first time at school with a girls’ team, and sure enough, eyebrows were raised and they questioned the need for a girl to play a sport. But with the support of her family, the Delhi girl dribbled past these whispers and was eventually called up to the national U-15 team.

She went on to win the SAFF U-15 Women’s Championship in 2018, before the heartbreak of the U-17 World Cup. But by then Aveka had decided to continue playing football outside India.

«It (moving abroad) honestly had nothing to do with studying. It was because I wanted to play at the highest level possible as quickly as possible, and for me that was Europe. At that time, college football in the US was the avenue for many female football players, and I had the opportunity to pursue football and my education at a very high level.

“From the time I was on the national team, from the time I was in Class 10 or 11, I consciously tried to play football in the US,” explains Aveka, who studied business economics at UC Irvine in California.

While in college, she spent two months in the U.S. off-season with Terrassa’s U-18 team in Spain. This period helped Aveka build connections and get a glimpse into the life she always wanted to lead. “I just took a quarter off from school, because I always wanted to play professionally in Europe after my studies.

“I wanted to see the lifestyle there and build some contacts because as an Indian it is very difficult because not many Indians have played abroad.”

Back to last year, she had heard about competitions at a few clubs in Denmark, and she appeared for them. Naestved HG happened like that, and Aveka is enjoying life in the Scandinavian country. Furthermore, she explained how playing in a foreign league can broaden your view of football, which can be useful for the national team.

«It gives you a lot of exposure to different playing styles, different types of people, different types of tactics, different types of formations on the pitch. Also off the pitch you gain a lot of confidence living abroad. When you play against high-level players who have played in the Champions League, who have played in all different types of national teams, it obviously broadens your worldview of football.»

Just as good as others

There is often a common perception that the genetic makeup of Indians, male or female, is not conducive to the sport. Aveka doesn’t believe so.

«Even the coach (Amelia Valverde), who we have now, also said that she was surprised because we have very fast players. We have physical players. So I think that is a misconception. Yes, in that sense we may be a little less in terms of genetics, but everyone is different. We do have players who I think can compete at the highest level,» she said.

Armed with the knowledge that she has played under different systems – the athleticism in the US, the tactical Spanish style and the intense Danish football – Aveka will hope to bring her experience to the Indian squad under head coach Valverde. The midfielder has already found the net under the Costa Rican tactician after scoring a goal in a 5-0 win over Perth RedStar FC in a friendly.

«We have definitely put in the work on the field, which we have been doing since we qualified for the Asian Cup. Now it’s just time to believe in ourselves and just play. I think we can do it, we can qualify for the World Cup. Otherwise we wouldn’t be competing and we wouldn’t be here, right? We’re not here just to participate and have fun,» she concluded.

Published on March 3, 2026