Feature story by Chris Mattingly
Friday was emotional for Nadia Nadim.
Ten months after tearing her ACL for the second time in two years, the star forward for Racing Louisville returned to the field at Lynn Family Stadium, playing her first game since September in Racing’s 2-1 win over Kansas City.
That the comeback came after one of the most trying periods in the Nadim’s life only added to the power of the occasion. Her mother, Hamida, who led her family out of Afghanistan after her husband was executed by the Taliban, was killed in a tragic traffic accident in Denmark last November.
“Injuries are a part of football,” Nadim said. “I just felt, with everything happening with my mom, it was really, really hard. Not having football, because it has truly been my outlet – that’s how I cope with everything – was extremely hard. I had days when I was fully miserable, I’m not going to lie. Somewhere I read, it’s not about how you fall, it’s how you get up again, and that’s my life story.
“I’ve been getting hit so many times, and I refuse to lay down. This was another one of them. I feel almost invincible at this point. I don’t know what’s going to take me down. It was hard. But I also feel that football saved me again. If I didn’t have football and going to the gym and having this outlet, I would’ve gone crazy with everything happening the last nine months.”
Nadim, 35, is one of the most influential soccer players in the world, known not only for her footballing excellence at clubs like French power PSG or the NWSL champion Portland Thorns, but also her incredible personal journey as an Afghan refugee growing up in Denmark. She speaks 11 languages and completed studies last year to become a medical doctor. She intends to practice surgery after finishing her athletic career.
The prevailing characteristics that define Nadim are her determination and fearlessness, traits that willed her to return from a 2021 ACL tear in time to play for Denmark at the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 last summer. She approached this second rehabilitation process will similar gusto, working out in Louisville over the past six months alongside her Racing teammates.
Those teammates were at her side in May when Nadim, Racing Louisville leaders and former Louisville mayor Greg Fischer announced the Hamida Nadim Memorial Fund to aid refugee families with single mothers as they settle in Louisville.
“I spent a lot of hours in the gym and on the training field to be healthy again,” Nadim said. “I’m emotional about it. I’m grateful for the opportunity again and grateful for the help and support that I’ve gotten from my teammates, the staff, everyone around Racing Louisville, the fans. It’s incredible.”
In three years with Louisville, Nadim has been an invaluable presence in the locker room. She has also seen the team develop from a young expansion side in 2021 to a 2023 squad full of veterans and rising stars in the NWSL.
For a team already playing well, just two points out of playoff position and leading its UKG NWSL Challenge Cup group, Racing getting Nadim back with three and a half months left in the campaign feels like icing on the cake. The Louisvillians are second in the NWSL in shot creation per 90 minutes and fourth in expected goals, but they have not consistently produced goals to match that offensive firepower.
Nadim, one of the most seasoned strikers in the world, can help. A lot.
“This game today was very, very important to us to stay a contender for the playoffs,” Nadim said. “That’s our objective. We’ve been growing as a team, and every puzzle piece is falling in the right place. Hopefully I can help finish the entire puzzle.”
Nadim took the first step Friday. She told reporters after the match she now needs to work toward full soccer fitness as the season progresses.
“I am in OK shape – it’s very hard to regain fitness if you do not play games,” Nadim said. “I was cleared to play 10 minutes and hopefully next game I can play a bit more, so it’s step by step. Nine months ago, it was a different story – I could barely walk – and now I’m here running around. I’ll get faster. I’ll get stronger. And I’m going to be more dangerous in the box.”
