Croatian giants ZNK Dinamo Zagreb choose Indian duo as club’s first foreign signings

Panaji: India’s women footballers are going places.
After Manisha Kalyan joined Apollon Ladies FC in Cyprus and Dangmei Grace moved to Uzbekistan’s FC Nasaf, two more Indian footballers -- Soumya Guguloth and Jyoti Chouhan – have made it to foreign shores, this time signing year-long contracts with ZNK Dinamo Zagreb, the women’s team of Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb.
After heavily relying on local talent from their own academy for the women’s team since formation seven years ago, the two Indian forwards are the first foreign players that the club has signed. Each club can sign a maximum of three foreign players for the domestic league.
“I’m satisfied (with the signings),” said head coach Marija Damjanovic. “We are signing players that are needed to provide the team a boost.”
Soumya, 21, and Jyoti, 23, were among the dozen-odd players who took part in the Women In Sports’ elite trials held in Kolkata in June.
The players were assessed by coaches from five international clubs. But while the players caught the eye of most coaches from Australia and Europe, the Croatian giants were the first to offer them extended trial where they were put through the paces and tested alongside the best talent from the country.
“The weather was difficult at first, but we were always confident of making it,” said Soumya, currently with the national team camp in Pune, preparing for the SAFF Women’s Championship. “This is a dream come true for me, personally. I’ve always dreamt of following in the footsteps of my idol Bala Devi (who played for Rangers in Scotland). She is an inspiration.”
Soumya, a winger, was quick off the blocks in Croatia, earning big points during the fitness tests. Striker Jyoti proved herself on the field, matching her teammates and, many times, doing even better.
If the club officials had any doubts, those disappeared during a friendly against ZNK Radomlje when Jyoti scored a hat-trick and Soumya also added her name to the scoresheet.
Contracts were then quickly offered and signed.
“It helps that both of us are together (at ZNK Dinamo Zagreb). I was confident that if we train like the players here, we can do better,” said Soumya.
Hailing from Telangana, Soumya struggled to find a decent football field to train when at home in Secunderabad district. She picked up valuable lessons when she made it to national-level club football and is now a regular with the national team.
Jyoti has represented India in age groups since 2015 and comes from a family of five sisters, four of whom have played for the national team.
Both were part of Gokulam Kerala’s title-winning campaign in the Indian Women’s League (IWL) last season.
“I believe these girls will justify the coach’s trust,” said ZNK Dinamo president Josipa Petricevic.