Following a busy and successful summer, Sweden women’s national and Real Madrid footballer Kosovare Asllani is looking to pick up where she left off. Back in late June, the attacking-midfielder first won the Mahou Five Star Player of the Season 2020/21 award for Real Madrid, after tallying 16 goals and 1 assist in 29 games, and then extended her contract with the Spanish giants until 2022.
Next, she helped carry the Swedish national squad to the final at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Though they went on to lose to Canada, Asllani’s team kept it close in a dramatic penalty shoot-out after regulation and extra time ended 1-1.
The star player and Real Madrid Femenino will kick off their next campaign at the end of August, when they join the 2021-2022 UEFA Women’s Champions League from Round 2. The Madrid squad will be among the 12 debutants in the tournament, after securing qualification for the competition in their first season.
The new-look Champions League will feature a record 72 squads from 50 associations. Next, Asllani and Los Blancas will gear up against Levante in 4-5 September to start the 2021-2022 Spanish Primera Division.
Kosovare Asllani has a prolific club and international resumé
Asllani’s illustrious career started young. She decided to focus on soccer after growing up playing both the former and ice hockey. At age 15, she started her youth career at Vimmerby IF, and went on to score 49 goals in 48 matches. These successes marked her as a major prospect. In 2007, Asllani accepted a transfer to Linköpings FC, to compete in the the highest division of women’s soccer in Sweden. By 2009, Linköpings FC had won both the Svenska Cupen (Swedish Cup) and their first ever league title. Asllani soon represented Sweden in UEFA Women’s Euro 2009.
After turning pro and lifting trophies with Linköpings, she signed with the Chicago Red Stars. In her single season there, she became a fast fan favorite. For the 2010-2011 season, Asllani returned to Linköpings FC, helping the team in their UEFA Champions League campaign. Upon competing in the 2012 Olympics in London, Asllani made her next big move, signing with Paris Saint-Germain in September 2012. In Paris, she scored 17 goals in 19 matches, helping PSG to a second-place finish.
2016 was another landmark for Asllani, as she signed with Manchester City in January. That summer, she helped Sweden win the silver medal at the Rio Olympics. In the next major international competition, the 2019 Women’s World Cup, Sweden finished third.
“It was a big, big moment personally and for women’s football,” said Asllani. “A lot more girls could see us play, it was shown in so many more countries than it’s been before so it was inspiring to be a part of that.” Right after the World Cup, Asllani signed with CD Tacón/Real Madrid, going down in history as their first acquisition and the first Galáctica (star-player signings during the tenure of club president Florentino Pérez).
Kosovare Asllani stands for a multicultural Sweden
As her first name suggests, Asllani is of Kosovo origin. Her parents migrated to Sweden in 1988, where she was born the next year. Asllani believes that her Balkan origins helps other women in society relate to her:
“I was born in Sweden but I felt like a lot of the young girls with different backgrounds could relate to me, so I felt responsible to fight for those girls too and show that it doesn’t matter where you come from, all of their dreams are possible.”
“Even when I went through tough moments in my career, I always fought for all the girls of foreign origin in Sweden. They lit the fire in my heart when things were difficult for me,” she said, right after the 2016 Olympics semi-final game. “I’m very proud to play for Sweden and I have Kosovo in my heart too. My whole family is from Kosovo,” so success for Asllai is for both Sweden and Kosovo: “Both are in my heart.”
Swedish journalist and writer Anja Gatu, who worked with Maria Kallstrom and Asllani to write two children’s book based on Kosovare’s story, underscores how meaningful Asllani’s success is:
“Swedish women’s football has traditionally been a sport for the white middle class, but that’s changing right now. Kosse Asllani is showing the new generation that you can make it for the national team even if your or your parents’ origins lie outside Sweden.”
Kosovare Asllani looks ahead in both soccer and life
Pre-season friendlies will soon come to an end. So, Asllani and Real Madrid must gear up to start their quest for the title in both the Spanish premier division and the Champions League.
For Asllani, having arguably the biggest club in the world, Real Madrid, launch its women’s team and build a pedigree of success is important for the struggle for equal rights and equality: “I really want the biggest teams in the world to have women’s teams and Real Madrid is the biggest club in the world.”
Another season with the famed Madrid side represents not just an opportunity to lift silverware at the end of the season, but also an opportunity to “lead the way for young girls that one day dream of playing for Real Madrid.”
