Feeding cattle to breaking barriers: Nepal goal machine Sabitra Bhandari | Soccer

On a bleak Monday in February, Sabitra Bhandari set off to warm up as soon as the coach made the sign. The clock was nearing the hour mark at the Stade Jean-Pierre Delhomme in the outskirts of Bordeaux and, just two days after signing for Guingamp, Bhandari was set to make history.

And so it happened. Samba, as she’s called by everyone back home, became the first Nepalese player – male or female – to play a European top-flight fixture, coming on in the 76th minute. It was a giant leap for the South Asian nation, whose direct footballing connection with Europe is limited to a few managerial tenures, youth trials, and reported interest in young footballers who ultimately do not make the move. “I always had that dream to play in Europe,” the 27-year-old tells Moving the Goalposts. “Now is the time to prove myself, put those dreams to reality by doing well at the level that I grew up watching.”

Bhandari’s journey to France has been nothing short of remarkable. She has overcome obstacles at almost every turn but has not stopped scoring. Along the way she has racked up 53 goals in 46 matches for Nepal and scored almost two goals a game during her time in India. In 2023 she topped that by going to close to three goals per 90 minutes for Gokulam Kerala at the Indian Women’s League. And that was after coming back from a lengthy absence because of an ACL injury. Israel’s Hapoel Ra’anana came knocking but the 7 October attack cut her spell short after five goals in two games.

“I’ve only wanted to score as many goals as I can ever since I can remember,” the 26-year-old says, rather modestly, when asked about where the instincts, that saw her score nine goals in four matches at the WAFF Women’s Championship in Saudi Arabia last week, stem from. “Having the ball at my feet, in front of goal, makes me comfortable rather than nervous. That’s where my confidence is higher than in other instances and I’ve thrived.”

Coming off the bench on a cold and rainy winter day can be uncomfortable – especially after a major step up like this. But leaving the comfort zone has become the norm for Bhandari, who has had to tackle larger issues off the pitch – most of them systemic – to make it this far. The fight against patriarchal reservations, poor economic conditions, and limited resources makes her rise even more impressive.

It all started with a ball made from old socks at a hilly village 62 miles northwest of Kathmandu, the capital. Playing with it in a rugged empty field was one problem, hiding it from everyone else was another. “I used to hide it below my bed,” she recalls. “I even buried it several times for safety because whenever my mum or elder sister found it they threw it away.”

As it goes with most communities in Nepal, girls were not supposed to take up sports, but rather perform house chores, be obedient and quietly accept whatever was decided for them. Bhandari, from very early on, was exactly the opposite.

Adamant about pursuing her dreams, she played volleyball – even switching schools and playing on a boys’ team – and football. There were barefoot matches in the morning and in the lunch hour. It was a hectic schedule. “I had to fetch fodder for the cattle before leaving for school,” she says. “I used to do it quickly and play football before classes. I often got pulled aside after the morning assembly, as my clothes were dirty after playing.”

Was it worth it? Bhandari thinks so, adding that those early struggles helped her develop the willpower that has made her successful later in life. One memory stands out: assembling a squad with her female school friends to play in a local women’s football tournament, which they won with a convincing 2-0 win in the final, both goals, of course, being scored by the barefoot Samba.

She can still picture the second goal: a run that started from the halfway line on a muddy outfield and with the fear of playing barefoot against opponents with boots. “I knew I had to do it myself,” she says. “So I just kept on going, one defender at a time, and shot from outside the box.” It was this performance that caught the eye of Shukra Tamang, a local referee, who insisted Bhandari should pursue football and go to the capital to look for opportunities.

Despite everything she has achieved, Bhandari, who scored her first goal for Guingamp at the weekend, considers herself still a raw talent who has a lot to learn, especially technically. “It was difficult,” she says, describing her experience playing against PSG recently. “I know I’m not the best in the technical and tactical aspects of play. It all comes down to coaching and I only started getting formally trained after I went to Kathmandu.”

Bhandari is grateful to her teammates at Guingamp for how she has been made feel welcome. She is annoyed, however, about the state of women’s football back in Nepal, the lack of domestic matches and the lack of structure to train the next generation. The National Women’s League came to a halt in the middle of the season in 2022 and it will soon be two full years without a single domestic football fixture in the country. Most female footballers who started with Bhandari are no longer involved in the game.

“I’ve played for the nation for 10 years,” she says, her voice filled with concern. “But I cannot be financially comfortable with whatever I get back home and the lack of tournaments has limited upcoming talents to their villages and sent many to work abroad.”

There needs to be more support, she says, and fears that the newfound interest in women’s football in the country will die down and leave her dream of winning the women’s South Asian Championship incomplete. “I genuinely think we can win the SAFF Championship or even make it to the World Cup with enough exposure, proper training, and investment,” she says. “I can’t be grateful enough for the support that continues to pour in from everywhere and it feels good to be the inspiration of several small girls picking up sport, but it is difficult when there’s not a secure pathway – it almost feels like I’m making a false promise to them.”

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