Irsalina binte Irwan has always found herself looking up.

Partly because she is an optimist, mostly because she is a 155cm-tall girl surrounded by giants.

At 17, Irsalina has found her place among Lionesses in Singapore’s national women’s football team.

Having first joined the ranks when she was 15, Irsalina became the youngest and smallest on the team, looking to follow in the footsteps of seniors like Danelle Tan.

Irsalina plays as a left-back on the field; she helps defend and set up plays from behind, so teammates in front can attack.

In 2023, she was handpicked to further her training at IMG Academy in Florida, U.S. on an Unleash The Roar! (UTR!) scholarship.

Training at the academy is an important stepping stone for athletes thinking of going professional, as it hones their skills in a more rigorous setting.

Within a year of enrolling, Irsalina participated in the academy’s National League Pro and emerged champion in the State Cup.

She also debuted in Singapore's senior national team at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou while playing against North Korea.

Her path to going professional seemed set, until the day she tore her ACL.

Forced timeout

Speaking to Mothership, Irsalina shares that she got injured during a friendly match on Jul. 3, 2024.

When she went for a medical examination, she discovered she had torn her ACL in her right leg.

An ACL tear is something that could "end a career before it even begins", Irsalina says.

Her 46-year-old father, Irwan bin Isnin, had suffered the exact same injury when he was younger.

It put an end to his football journey.

Even with surgery — Irsalina frets — the injury requires a downtime of up to a year, which sounds more like a lifetime to someone who trains for hours every day.

But she has hope she will recover.

After all, she has a knack for beating the odds.

When you’re on the field but also on the sidelines

Soft-spoken and shy, Irsalina admits that she isn’t exactly one to stand out in the crowd.

"I’m definitely one of the smallest in the team now," says the defender, who finds herself having to sprint harder than others to reach the same position on the pitch.

But sometimes, when you find yourself running with giants, you find a way to step on their toes.

Well, not literally (because that’s against the rules).

In this case, Irasalina’s secret weapon is her fiery spirit.

Playing the support role of sending the ball downfield to others, Irsalina stands just shy of the spotlight.

However, it’s clear to the girl — even if not to everyone else — that the show cannot go on without her.

"My role is just as important in creating openings for others to score. I take pride in being a crucial part of the team's success, even if it’s not as flashy as scoring goals."

When asked to describe her playing style, the girl grins and simply states: "Aggressive."

Her voice takes on an edge when she talks about "owning" the ball, "dominating" her opponents, and running circles around them on the field.

"She’s small, but she packs a punch," her father affirms.

Because Irsalina has figured out how to play the game; she won’t be at the frontlines, won’t be sprinting ahead of the rest, won’t be the first one at the goal.

But she'll keep their eyes on her.

Taking her shot

There are moments in life when things just shift into place, and you find yourself running along the exact path you were always meant to be on.

For Irsalina, this moment came during the 2019 UEFA under-15 youth national tournament, when she was crowned the MVP (Most Valuable Player).

It had been a three-year journey to get to that point.

Irsalina describes the moment she first discovered football as "finding herself".

She had gained an interest when she was nine, witnessing her father coach two of her brothers at West Coast Park.

"I just had this feeling that football was meant for me."

Having grown up playing football himself, her dad was excited to have yet another member of the family join the ranks.

When Irsalina turned 10, he enrolled her and the two brothers in ActiveSG Academy.

The academy allows budding footballers to develop their interest through small matches and training sessions.

She trained there till she was 12, when she was called up to join the youth national team.

There, she learned to balance her natural aggressiveness on the field with tactical thinking and technical discipline.

It didn’t take long before she was scouted to join the women’s national team.

"A lonely path for me"

Though Irsalina’s two youngest siblings are still too small to pick up any sport, football runs in the family’s veins.

One of her brothers, 15, currently plays for Singapore’s under-21 league. The other, 13, trains at the Lion City Sailors Academy.

But even around people who have a tendency to shine, Irsalina’s presence is felt at home — as it is on a field full of elite players — and her absence even more so.

Her father admits that it was hard saying goodbye to Irsalina when she left to train at the American boarding school, IMG Academy.

Irsalina was able to do so as one of the first batch of promising footballers awarded the UTR! scholarship in 2023.

She was among eight athletes, comprising six girls and two boys, sponsored to study and train overseas in the U.S. and Spain.

Another six boys and three girls were awarded the scholarship in July 2024, the programme’s second batch.

The programme is run by Sport Singapore and the Football Association of Singapore (FAS). It allows young Singaporeans to develop their sporting skills overseas.

"I get homesick every day," Irsalina confesses, lamenting the 12-hour time difference between her and her family.

She rattles off a weekly schedule packed with classes and training sessions.

The 17-year-old is not unaware of the childhood she may be missing out on, which includes simple things like being able to hang out with friends.

"It’s a lonely path for me."

Thankfully, Irsalina says, her family will always be cheering her on.

The end goal

Irwan was there when Irsalina first began her football journey, and he’s remained her grounding force ever since.

The father notes a competitive streak in the family, adding that his daughter is often "harder on herself" than anyone else.

He delivers words of advice: "Sometimes it's good to just let the game flow. There’s no need to be the best in everything."

It is not possible to keep the ball under your control all the time.

To a certain extent, the young girl understands this, now more than ever when her career trajectory has been stalled by her injury.

"Some things that are part of my football journey are just out of my hands," she states plainly.

Still, Irsalina speaks of a bright future in which she can play professional football in Europe: "If you have the talent, nothing can stop you."

The coming months post-surgery will see her relearning how to run like before, how to walk even, but Irsalina continues to look up.

She may be out of the running for a while, but that’s okay.

Chances are she’ll catch up.

Top images via FAS and Irsalina