From Hoshiarpur to Lima: Manisha graduates to football's 'next level'

KOCHI: Manisha Kalyan’s journey has never followed the well-trodden path. Her move from India to Peru is another sharp turn taken with purpose. From Gokulam Kerala’s relentless pressing game to the demanding rhythms of South American football, the left winger has stepped into what she calls the “next level” of learning.Peru’s Alianza Lima Femenino signed Manisha from Greek club PAOK FC, the South American club announced on Friday.Alianza Lima Femenino will be the third overseas club in Manisha’s career. After playing for Sethu FC and Gokulam Kerala at home, the 24-year-old joined Cyprian club Apollon Ladies FC in 2022. She became the first Indian footballer to compete in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. She scored 14 goals in 36 matches for Apollon Ladies.In 2024, Manisha joined Greek club PAOK FC.Manisha, however, gained in prominence at home, when she featured for Gokulam Kerala FC from 2018 to 2022, a club in which she notched up 21 goals in 24 appearances.Now, having already tested herself in Greece, Manisha is clear about her progression. The level in Europe, she admits, was good."Peru, though, feels different...it's more professional, more exacting, and far less forgiving. Training sessions are longer, sharper, and layered with detail. Fitness is non-negotiable. Technique is constantly refined. Tactical drills, focus on ball positioning, timing and awareness being in the right place at the right time," she tells TOI.For Manisha, this is not a leap of faith so much as the next step in a carefully built learning process. She speaks like a player still in her apprenticeship, not someone content with milestones already reached.The move, on a one-year contract, is about absorbing football education in its most purest form. "There is still a lot to learn and improve and there's no better place to do that than here in Peru. In terms of technique and fitness, I think this is where I want to be at this stage of my career," she explains."How to read space, how to stretch a back line from the left wing, and how to make decisions under pressure are things I'm looking to learn," she adds.There is quiet pride, too, in how far she has come. From Hoshiarpur in Punjab to Greece and now Peru, Manisha carries the imprint of Indian footballers who are hungry to improve. Gokulam Kerala shaped her edge and ambition. In Peru, in a more demanding environment, she believes she has found the classroom she was looking for.