Karen Páez, a Club Ñañas player, is the first South American footballer to play for a club in India

Karen Páez, a Club Ñañas player, became the first soccer player from South America to reinforce a club from India, Gokulam Kerala FC.

In this institution he played in the AFC Women’s Club Championship, considered the most important women’s soccer event on the Asian continent.

Páez achieved this important step in her career after being the scorer for Ñañas in the last edition of the Ecuadorian Women’s Super League, with 22 goals. In order to travel, the athlete received personalized English classes to be able to communicate in India, a country where several local languages ​​are spoken, but English is their common language.

The lead was loaned to the Asian team for three months. After this experience, he will return to play at Ñañas, where he has a contract until 2023. In an interview with the media, Páez spoke about his experience in Oriente. What stood out the most is that, although she considers herself a fast player, soccer is so fast and dynamic there that she has had to adapt.

“Knowing teams from Uzbekistan, Iran… seeing the footballing level and the support of the teams for the players, seeing that has helped me grow, although it has not been easy (…) I am studying technical direction and seeing how to implement what I have learned, everything It is very professional, it is played with VAR and I think they give a lot of importance to women’s football ”, he commented.

Páez is the first of the players who received this opportunity, but the objective of the alliance between Ñañas and Premium Level is that the number of players who can travel to play in other countries increases, for which scholarships will be given to the players.

“The professionalization of football is sought from the grassroots, and a very important factor is education (…) in this way opening the doors to the world. In addition, the players receive comprehensive learning workshops ”, explained María Fernanda Vásconez, player and manager of the soccer team.

About the culture of India

Páez believed that she would never fulfill her dream of playing soccer so far away, so today she feels grateful and full of information to share in Ecuador.

The experience in India has been “a drastic but surprising change,” he says, “doing things that he had never done, like eating with your hand, we see it (in the West) perhaps as something not so neat; They see it from another angle, eating like this is preparing the stomach to receive food, perceiving the texture (…) rescued that cows love, it is like something divine to drink milk after the meal, thus generating the best digestion in the stomach. Knowing each of these things helps me to appreciate things ”.

Gokulam Kerala FC

In the tournament, Gokulam Kerala FC was reinforced with players from Ghana, Puerto Rico and India. “In India, women’s football is growing exponentially (…) we have a good and strong team and our goal is nothing less than the title,” Priya PV, the head coach of Gokulam Kerala FC told the media. The New Indian Express.

On November 13, Gokulam Kerala FC won its first match in the tournament. The result was 3-1 against FK Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan and Paez scored one of the goals. At the end of the tournament, the team was left with the bronze medal.