Main image via Astro Awani + Football Tribe
More and more Malaysians are doing us proud with their national and international accomplishments, and we now have 15-year-old Celine Chuang making us proud once again!
The rising football star has made history by becoming Malaysia’s first female footballer to play with Germany’s FC Bayern Munich!
Image via Astro Awani
After beginning training at the Persatuan Sukan Bintang Biru (PSBB) in Penang four years ago, Celine’s passion and desire to improve her skills made her sign up for training at the British International School Phuket (BISP) in Thailand for two years.
She then moved to Munich where Celine has been playing with the U-17 FC Bayern Women’s second squad since July.
“What I truly love about the sports in the challenging new tricks and techniques that I learn during training,” she said in a statement by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). “Playing football helps me maintain a great mindset and is a stress reliever.”
“The training I received in Malaysia was the foundation; I learnt all the basics there,” she added. “In Thailand, the intensity of training was certainly higher, as I trained seven times a week under the Cruzeiro Academy’s programme.”
Image via Malay Mail
To help reach her aspirations of becoming a professional footballer in the Bundesliga and World Cup, the 15-year-old attended a selection at the Bavarian club in February.
“All of my effort over the years paid off when I was selected as one of the 10 players to join the second squad of the U-17 Bayern Women,” she shared. “I am also grateful for the opportunity to play and train with the U-15 Wacker Munchen e.V. Boys Team; it gave me more confidence and allowed me to improve my football techniques.”
Speaking about her experience of training in Germany for the past four months, Celine shared that it took some time to overcome the initial language barrier and get used to training in the cold weather.
“Despite the challenges, the community here is very friendly and has been extremely welcoming to me since the very beginning,” Celine said. “Thanks to this, I have been able to adapt and settle in since arriving in Germany in June. I am currently undergoing training online due to the cancellation of competitions and leagues as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Image via Football Tribe
Celine first started gaining attention from the German football community after she scored a goal for the U-15 FC Wacker Munchen e.V. Boy’s team and another goal for the second squad of the U-17 FC Bayern Women in two official German leagues.
Prior to that, she scored her first international goal for the Malaysian U-15 National Women’s Team at the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Women’s Championship in 2019 that secured a 2-1 victory against Cambodia in Chonburi, Thailand.
via GIPHY
Congratulations Celine! We’re super proud of your achievements and we’re rooting for you!
Info via Malay Mail