There are Nepali women footballers who have received far more fame than they actually deserved. And there are some who, despite several contributions, have tried to stay away from the limelight. Renuka Nagarkote is of the latter variety.

However, she too could not stop from becoming the star for the team on Sunday when she scored her first goal for Nepal in 16 years.

Nagarkote, a former captain, was wearing the captain’s armband against Sri Lanka on Sunday as Anjana Rana Magar replaced Anjila Tumbapo Subba in goal.

Nagarkote, 31, has been a very reliable anchor midfielder at the centre for Nepal over the years. She is often stationed at the halfway line, helping in transitions from defence to front. Her role does not take her to the opponent’s box often, reducing the opportunities to score.

However, it has been a different scenario for Nagarkote in the ongoing SAFF Championship. She was forced to be closer to the opponent’s box against Sri Lanka, as well as Bhutan, as the team lacked Preeti Rai in the role of an attacking midfielder. Further, Nagarkote does not have the luxury of playing balls over and between defenders to create chances from the back, as she no longer has the likes of Sabitra Bhandari ‘Samba’, Nepal’s goal machine, leading the line.

So, when Nagarkote rushed ahead with the ball in the 62nd minute and reached near the opponent’s 18-yard box, she decided not to look for her teammates when she saw the Sri Lankan goalkeeper leaving the goalline. Nagarkote attempted a long-range shot from around 25 yards. It chipped over the keeper and turned into her first goal for the country in 16 years.

It was Nagarkote’s 62nd match as a senior national player. Nepal won it 2-0 to enter the semifinals as the topper of Group A.

Nagarkote’s journey

Nagarkote was happy for her first goal. The whole team was.

Head coach Nabin Neupane was, too. He had started his post-match press conference by congratulating Nagarkote.

“Everyone knows how important a player Renuka is,” Neupane said. “But she does not want to be in the limelight.”

But one thing is certain—Nagarkote will never be missed when Nepal’s all-time playing XI is being selected.

Nagarkote is a player from what could be said to be the second generation of Nepali women’s football. The first generation was the one that represented Nepal from 1986 to 1999.

Nepali women’s football was in the dark in the first decade of the 21st century. It was when Nagarkote had taken up football.

And when Nepal women’s football returned to sunny days with the inaugural SAFF Women’s Championship in 2010, Nepal witnessed a second generation of women footballers, which included a young Nagarkote.

The game she displayed as a 15-year-old was more than enough for Nepali fans to believe that she was a promising talent in the making. It is why it was hard to believe Nagarkote did not make it to the national team regularly.

Sometimes it was injuries. Once, Nagarkote’s footballing journey was in question when she suffered a clavicle fracture in 2022. But she bounced back stronger.

Sometimes it seemed the coaches did not find Nagarkote fit in their philosophies. Long story short, she especially struggled for a spot in the national team when Ananta Raj Thapa was the head coach.

A real captain

There were shortcomings. Nagarkote was not finding the back of the net. But there was nothing that stopped Nagarkote from becoming one of Nepal’s best-ever midfielders.

One of Nagarkote’s major turning points was in 2016, when Nepal hosted Malaysia in Satdobato, Lalitpur. It was an important occasion—the first international women’s football match hosted by Nepal.

Kumar Thapa was the head coach then. And he had chosen Nagarkote to become the first to captain the Nepal women’s team at home. After that, the armband passed to Sajana Rana, Niru Thapa, Anjila Tumbapo Subba and Samba.

Nagarkote was the captain when the armband was in phases of transition between the names above. She was the first choice when the team was searching for a new one.

When Nagarkote wore the captain’s armband against Sri Lanka, it was her 20th match as the captain of Nepal.

But players argue that Nagarkote does not need an armband to lead the team.

“Our real captain has always been Renuka didi,” Subba had said when there were controversies surrounding a captaincy dispute in the women’s team last year.

In December this year, it will be 40 years since Nepal’s women’s team played their first international match, against Hong Kong on December 14, 1986.

And when fans create their best-ever playing XI of the Nepali women’s football team in four decades, Nagarkote will not miss a spot in the midfield. Slimmer is the chance for her to miss the captain’s armband because, as Subba said, “Nagarkote has been the ‘real captain’.”

Nagarkote’s goal against Sri Lanka will feature prominently whenever highlights of Nepal’s SAFF campaign are replayed. Yet it is unlikely to be remembered as her greatest contribution to Nepali football.

Her true legacy lies in the years spent holding the midfield together, guiding younger players and leading by example, often without recognition.