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"It's so embarrassing that a girl scores"

18-year-old Alma Aagaard has rocketed from the pitches of her childhood club Snekkersten to the big stage in top women's football.

Former Kronborg Cup participant from Snekkersten IF and FC Helsingør, Alma Aagaard, has in June 2024 won "The Double" with FC Nordsjælland with a championship in the Women's League and cup victory against Brøndby IF, where Alma decided the match 2-0.

As a 4-year-old, Alma started playing football in the local football club Snekkersten IF. After a number of years in Snekkersten, the elite environment in FC Helsingør called for Alma's attention. Alma was already an obvious talent and a few years later, FC Nordsjælland brought one of Denmark's most goal-scoring strikers to the club, where she has now become a regular part of the first team squad. Alma's keen eye for goal was already evident at the U17 European Championship in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2022, where she was joint Danish top scorer.

In the spring of 2024, Alma signed a 2.5-year contract extension with FC Nordsjælland. This was only six months after she was promoted to the Kvindeliga squad in September 2023.

A very special talent
It was not without reason that FC Nordsjælland brought Alma to the club's youth academy. Jessica Davis, Sporting Director of the Women's League team, commented on Alma's contract extension to the FC Nordsjælland website:

"If I had to describe Alma in one word it would be dangerous. She makes a lot of smart runs that put her in good positions in front of goal and she is fearless when she receives the ball in the box. I think it's that combination that makes her special and a bit different from many of her peers.".

"It's so embarrassing when a girl scores"
As a youth player, Alma mainly played with boys of the same age. It wasn't until she was 14 that she played on a team with girls her own age.

The fact that Alma was so good on the pitch and at the same time was a girl among all the boys was not without its problems. Alma remembers, for example, that during a match, there was some jealousy among the opponents:

"I was a girl playing with the boys. I once scored against a boys' team, and one of the boys exclaimed "shit, it's embarrassing that a girl scores".

The good memories from Kronborg Cup
Alma joins a long line of former local youth players who are now professional footballers, but who all participated in the Kronborg Cup at youth level.

In her youth, the Kronborg Cup was part of Alma's summer vacation, which was always looked forward to with great excitement. The memories also include several medals from the tournament.

"I remember the Kronborg Cup as one of the coolest parts of my summer. It was something I always looked forward to and something I loved participating in. I have medals from there and that's great."

A future abroad
Right now, Alma is working in Farum, where she trains daily to become even better. Sometime in the future, Alma dreams of swapping Denmark for one of the slightly bigger addresses in England. If Alma has to name a few favorite players who inspire her, it's Sam Kerr and Eden Hazard from Chelsea - and it's also in Chelsea that Alma dreams of seeing herself in five years' time.

"In 5 years I hope to be playing abroad, and maybe for the women's national team. The dream is to play for Chelsea."

The fact that Alma is where she is today with these great results in such a short time makes Alma really proud and happy:

"A 10-year-old Alma probably couldn't imagine how far I've come today. It's a dream come true for her to score in a cup final and secure the Double for her club! I think little me would be proud too".

A word of advice
If Alma has one piece of advice for the many young soccer players, it's this:

"Have fun. I think the reason I've become good is because I've loved playing. When I didn't have a ball, I played with an invisible ball. So the most important thing is to love the game and take it a bit like a game, because otherwise why do it?"

Get an insight into Alma Aagaard's journey from Snekkersten to life as a professional footballer in the video below.

Video: FC Nordsjælland

Photo: fodboldbilleder.dk

With the portrait series From "Width to Elite", we follow former Kronborg Cup participants' path from grassroots to elite football. Kronborg Cup is a grassroots tournament that embraces and celebrates the community and breadth of the sport, where there is room for everyone. We celebrate the talent that goes all the way from dreams to a life with elite football at the highest level.

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Kronborg Cup is an international football tournament for youth teams - Zealand's biggest tournament - held every year in the last week of the school summer holidays.
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