"India has so much potential. There's so much talent here. The world needs to invest in them more. They need to believe in young girls and give them the opportunities to succeed. And I think they can go really far."
Even after a whirlwind three days where Indian-origin Mia Bhuta grabbed headlines and scored arguably the best goal of the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, she never loses sight of her goal to inspire young Indian girls, to champion better things for women's football, be an ambassador for the game.
Lofty ambitions for a 16-year-old? Maybe, but then again Mia is no ordinary teenager.
Astam and Mia, India and USA - stark contrasts but also a sign of what's possible
The Pittsburgh native's talent with her feet is immediately apparent - as is her composure and poise when speaking to the media. The consensus amongst the Indian journalists interviewing her was maybe that's 'just the confidence of an American teenager'. We are swiftly disavowed of that notion in a Zoom call, when even grizzled old veterans of the Pittsburgh media remark that they've never seen a youth-team player be as articulate.
Ironically, it's one of the few moments when Mia's left speechless - "...er I'm glad it's good?" she laughs.
Aaron Heifetz, the long-serving press officer for the US national team, speaks of Mia in glowing terms. The affection is palpable, and almost like a proud father, he shows a small group of media gathered to watch the USA train, childhood photos of Mia growing up.
Her actual father? Also very proud, after taking in Team USA's 8-0 win over India from the stands and waiting over an hour after to meet Mia, despite the stadium lights being shut down. Why an hour? Well, Mia was one of two randomly selected players to go for doping control after the game - and it's also where she found out Megan Rapinoe had congratulated her on social media.
"Yeah, that was crazy. She's someone that I've always looked up to. She's an incredible player, so I look up to her for her abilities on the field. But off the field, she just seems like an even better person. I've never met her personally, but I've just seen how much she's done for the game and how much she speaks up on other matters that are important to her. So I also look up to her for those reasons."
𝘽𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙄𝙩 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐁𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐚‼︎ ⭐️#U17WYNT midfielder Mia Bhuta dared to dream big, and now she inspires others to do the same 💫 pic.twitter.com/V11pywmtxb
- U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) October 13, 2022
"She made such an impact on the world of soccer and she's one of the reasons why now girls like me have so many opportunities in the United States. So just having someone like her supporting me really meant so much. It was like an incredible moment. I still can't even believe that she knows who I am."
Like Rapinoe, the world is waking up to Mia's incredible story, which began with Vyom Bhuta, her father, leaving Rajkot for the US at the age of 16, pursuing a tennis dream and better educational opportunities as an exchange student, initially in New York. Vyom later went to Mercyhurst, PA for college, where he met Mia's mom, who was from Pittsburgh. Decades later, Mia's parents were in the stands screaming as their daughter scored in India, against India.
"They're one of the main reasons why I've been able to make it here. They've sacrificed so much for me to be here, and honestly, if it wasn't for them, I know I would not be here. My parents have done so much just to help with my development."
It wasn't just Mia's immediate family that was glad, extended family group chats of relatives in India were inundated with videos of her goal. Even her grandfather, recovering from surgery in a hospital, has been doing better after being shown her history-making strike.
Yet, amidst all the congratulatory messages that blew up Mia's phone following her strike (she even had teammate and close friend, Gisele Thompson, lock her out of her phone so she could focus), she holds dear the messages from young Indian girls, who've let her known she's inspired them.
And she's been inspired too. Inspired to ask the world to do better for women's football, saying, "We've seen in a lot of countries that girls don't have the same opportunities to play sports. So first off, it's a call to everyone else around the world that, hey, we need your support. In the past, we've seen women have a large impact on their families, but I think now we're starting to have a significant impact on society and we have a larger scope of influence. So when I play, I hope to encourage young girls to continue to believe in themselves and know that with hard work they can achieve anything."
There's still a tournament to focus on, though, and even after this World Cup, Mia plans on heading off to Stanford (enrolling a semester early), but doesn't want to turn pro yet. "I really do value my education, so that's kind of what's up next for me," she says. There's little doubt now that she's definitely had an Indian upbringing.
It only follows then, that being a young Indian-American girl, which player could have inspired her to take up the sport?
"Messi, he was the first soccer player that I looked up to. I'm a huge Barca fan. I know he's gone now, but that was the team that I loved growing up. He's one of the best players to ever play...incredible. He's amazing."
There's often a temptation to deride the sporting success of the Indian diaspora as not 'our own' within India, clutching at straws since we apparently lack local heroes. Yet, if a diminutive Argentine wizard from the streets of Rosario can inspire an Indian-origin girl from the USA into taking up the sport, who are we to dictate which heroes are worthy?
Mia has the world at her feet, and despite her age, often looks ready to take the burdens of the world upon her shoulders. One's almost tempted to hand her the keys to Indian women's football and say, 'Here, change it for us.'
After that goal and whichever Indian girl it inspired to pick up her cleats, who knows, Mia already might have.