The goalkeeper for the Indian senior women’s national team has been consistently Aditi Chauhan over the past decade. Aditi, who has experience playing in Europe with seven appearances for West Ham United from 2015 to 2018, has contributed to India’s success by securing three SAFF Championships and two gold medals at the South Asian Games.
However, as she has aged, injuries have increasingly affected her performance, leading to a poignant moment when she left the field in tears during a friendly against Nepal in February of last year. In her absence, Elangbam Panthoi Chanu has emerged as her successor, now taking on the role as the team’s primary goalkeeper.
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Chanu’s Journey: From Indian Women’s League to Metro United
Elangbam Panthoi Chanu, who earned the Golden Glove award in the Indian Women’s League at the age of 22, has stepped into Aditi’s position with maturity and skill. She has already showcased her talent with notable performances in recent international matches.
On Tuesday, another feather was added to her cap when Australian club Metro United roped her in for the 2024 season.
“I hope to do well and make my country proud. This has been my dream to push myself to higher levels and I hope I can do justice to this opportunity,” Chanu said.
Metro United plays in the Women’s National Premier League, the top division of women’s football in Southern Australia, and the goalie from Manipur will feature as the team’s No. 1.
“I’ll be honest. In women’s football, good goalkeepers are hard to find, certainly in Australia. We saw (and liked) certain qualities that she possessed and thus, decided to pursue her.”
“We are very fortunate to bring her here to Australia and spend the season with us in Adelaide,” Paul Morris, Metro United’s coach said.
Chanu initially garnered attention for her rapid reflexes and adept sweeping skills when she clinched victory in the inaugural edition of the expanded Indian Women’s League with Eastern Union at the age of 21. She followed this success by securing the runner-up position in the subsequent edition, earning recognition as the best goalkeeper.
During the recent Turkish Women’s Cup, she maintained her position as India’s top goalkeeper, preserving a clean sheet against Hong Kong. Despite India finishing as runners-up in the tournament, suffering a 0-1 loss to Kosovo in the final round-robin match, Chanu’s performance stood out.
“Adelaide United women’s coach Adrian Stenta spent some time in India, doing some coaching schools and when she returned, she and I had a chat on how we would set up our team (Metro United) for the next season,” Morris added.
“She recommended Panthoi and we had a look at some of her videos, went online and found some more, playing for Eastern Sporting and India. We liked what we saw and we signed her to bring her to Australia.”
Charting New Horizons: Panthoi Chanu Joins Elite Roster of Indian Footballers Abroad
Chanu joins a distinguished list of Indian national team players who have ventured beyond India to play for clubs, including Ngangom Bala Devi, Dangmei Grace, and Manisha Kalyan, who currently represents Cypriot side Apollon Ladies.
She becomes the fourth player to be scouted from the recent trials organized by Women in Sports and secured a contract with a foreign club.
Previously, Jyothi Chouhan extended her contract with Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb, while Kiran Pisda and M. K. Kashmina also joined the club for the first time.
Chanu’s new club currently sits fourth from the bottom after two games and suffered a significant defeat of 0-5 in its last fixture against West Adelaide. Despite the challenging start, with the Indian goalkeeper making history in the island nation, Metro United aims to change their fortune with their latest signing.
“We are looking forward to getting her settled in and hopefully, if everything goes well, she’ll make her debut against Football Federation South Australia NTC,” Morris said.
