The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup is at its semi-finals stage and Dalima Chhibber is keeping an extra close eye on things. It's a new, albeit temporary, look for Chhibber who, as defender in the Indian women's national team and one of the most prominent faces of the women's game in the country, is part of the broadcast team for Sony's coverage of the tournament.
The late nights following the action from France have been worth it, she says. "It's incredible to see just how much the game has grown over the last four years. It's not just that stadiums are packed with spectators. It's that the quality of the game has improved so much. The teams that were once used to reaching the quarter-finals and semi-finals are all having to fight really hard just to get to the same position," she says. There have been some spectacular highlights too. One that has thrilled the sporting world -- and Chhibber in particular -- was Lucy Bronze's goal against Norway in the quarters. It was free-kick routine that saw the English right-back smash it in from the edge of the box.
While Bronze's strike was spectacular, followers of Indian sport might argue that Chhibber has her own claim to being something of a free-kick specialist too.
More than a few heads were turned a couple of months back when a video of Chhibber's free kick went viral. Competing for India against Nepal in the final of the SAFF Championship, Chhibber set the ball down some forty yards from the goal, took six steps back and smacked the ball over the wall, past the goalkeeper and into the right corner of the goal.
A glimpse of my goal scored from a freekick yesterday against Nepal in the final match of the SAFF Championship, 2019.
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.#Saffchampionship #ShePower #IndianFootball #Champions pic.twitter.com/6JehH0UAlb- Dalima Chhibber (@DalimaChhibber) March 23, 2019
That goal wasn't the first long ranger off Chhibber's boot. An earlier striker in the 2018 edition of the Indian Women's League too recorded thousands of views on Facebook. Chhibber herself reckons there were many more. "Ever since I started playing football, I used to take long-range goals. Back in school I scored off the half line after the first whistle was blown too. Of course the only thing was that before social media no one really knew about those goals," she says.
That lack of attention -- but for the rare occasions when Chhibber has had her jaw-dropping skills captured on tape -- is something she has gotten used to. "It has always been a struggle," she says. "I've always had to answer the question from relatives or teachers on 'Kya karegi bhi khel ke (What exactly are you going to gain by playing football)?'"
To add to that, like every other woman footballer in India, she has to overcome issues of training and facilities. Chhibber trains in multiple venues -- a park in south Delhi for hill training, a playground near her home for weight training and a school in east Delhi for ball practice -- simply because there's no dedicated facility available to her. Training apart, even regular competition appears to be a luxury. "Until the first Indian Women's League, there wasn't even any sort of competition. We had whatever games we could get as part of the Indian national team and maybe one national tournament in the year," she recalls.
Despite the constant struggles, Chhibber can argue that she was always destined to play football. Indeed, it's how her parents met each other. Her father Om was a national-level athlete but decided to form a women's team for Delhi University during the 1990s in order to compete in a collegiate competition. Her mother Neelam was one of the first to join that team.
"She scored the first goal by a girl from Delhi University, so I guess I have some of those genes in me too," says Chhibber.
Despite what might seem like an inherited advantage, Chhibber wasn't entirely sure about being a footballer growing up. Although her father also coached football, he wanted her to be an athlete, owing to the advantages of playing an individual sport and, indeed, that's what Chhibber started out as. "I ran 100m, 200m and relays on the track. I've won medals at the state and zonal levels too. Football was something I did just as a form of recovery from athletics," she says.
There were hints that she had potential as a footballer though. When she was about seven, her father took her to a coaching camp organized by Liverpool FC in New Delhi. "She was the smallest player out there but the coaches were very impressed with her and said she could be something special," recalls father Om.
The final push came in 2011 when as a 13-year-old, having only accompanied her sister to a trial for the Delhi U-19 team, she was picked in the main squad itself. Her performances at the national tournament eventually earned her a place in the India U-14 camp and that in turn signalled the end of her athletics career. She would go on to make her senior debut at 17 in the 2016 South Asian Games.
What stood out even from that early initiation was her ability to score from distance. It's a double-edged gift.
"She started out as a striker but because the coach wanted a defender who could make long clearances, she had to change her position. It's a shame because she could have scored a lot of goals," says Om. Chhibber, though, is grateful for the opportunity she has got and is thankful for her ability with her right foot. She credits her athletics training and her fathers' persistence in making her a long-range striker. "Back then girls, at least in India, didn't have a lot of power in their legs. But my father insisted that if I was to be something, I had to have a good long-range kick. Of course it helped that I was an athlete for a long time and that influenced the way I trained in getting that explosive strength," she says.
What also helped shape her career was the fact that she has had to develop much of her skills competing against boys. This was more due to necessity than choice -- there simply weren't any girls for her to train alongside. Her father used to coach the Simla Youngs football team in the Delhi league and while she couldn't play alongside them in official competition, she played plenty of matches in preseason friendlies and invitationals.
"I remember the time I was playing a senior-division team. And the players were telling the goalkeeper ki yaar ladki ne goal maar diya (a girl has scored a goal)! The level I have reached is because I have always played with boys. And I have been lucky that they always treated me as a football player and not a girl who plays football. It has made me very tough and the player I am today," she says.
Chhibber acknowledges the role she plays for young girls looking for a role model. "I've always wanted someone to look up to as a young footballer. Internationally there was someone like an Amy Wambach or a Marta. But all of those idols were from Brazil or the USA or the Netherlands. I always wanted someone like that in India," she says.
Chhibber knows that if she is to be mentioned in the same sentence as someone like Wambach or Marta, she will have to make it to the biggest stage of them all. It might seem an impossible task, considering India is ranked 63rd in the world, but Chhibber is optimistic it can be done. She points out the fact that Indian drew 3-3 with a higher-ranked Myanmar at the Olympic qualifiers just a few months back. "We held the lead twice against Myanmar. This is a side that is ranked above us [44th in the FIFA rankings] and who have drawn with Thailand [who qualified for the Women's World Cup this year]. That just shows the level this Indian women's team is capable of," she says.
Chhibber says the increased funding put forward by the AIFF and the resultant exposure has to take some credit for the result. "If we can keep up this level of support for a couple of years, there's no reason why we can't make it there," she says.
While she's hopeful for the best, Chhibber is also realistic about the unique challenges of being a woman footballer in India. Just last year she had said at a FICCI conference that women players can't see a future in the game. "We as women footballers are still not able to see a future in football. We can't think of making a career out of football like men do," she had said. And so while she says she wanted to pursue a professional career in Europe, Chhibber has had to shelve that plan. "I had some interest from clubs in Spain but it came down to the fact that it costs money that I don't have," she says.
She has still decided to play abroad though -- for the University of Manitoba, where she will be completing her post-graduation in Sports Psychology. "They have had some incredible players [three-time Canada World Cupper Desiree Scott is an alumna], their coach is a former U-17 World Cup coach of Germany. I'm going to be able to play with some really high-quality players and also get some financial support, which is very important for me," she says.
It's a stint that, Chhibber believes, will give her the chance to hone her skills at a higher level while also being able to represent the country when she has to. But even as she prepares for a new challenge overseas, Chhibber knows this too comes with its own responsibility. Just 21, she's more than willing to shoulder it.
"The number of girls I've seen coming for selection trials even at the Delhi level has gone up from 50 when I started to over 200," she says. "There's a lot of interest in women's football. A lot of these young girls consider me their idol. They ask me, 'Didi, what should I be doing?' It's my responsibility to create a path for them."