Danish footballer Nadia Nadim is, without doubt, one of the "faces of football" in the 21st century. Her story generated worldwide interest when she was discovered by the media a few years ago, with the Afghan-origin football star became a headline story in the world's biggest newspapers and websites. She stood out both for her talent as a player but also for the message that she took care to send to power at every opportunity and her extensive charitable work, while in 2019 she was designated UNESCO Champion for Girls and Women's Education.
In her first interview to the Greek media, Nadim spoke to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency about some unpleasant memories from her childhood and her life as a refugee, while at the same time expressing pride in all she has accomplished, both on and off football fields.
Born in Afghanistan's third-largest city, Herat, some 35 years ago, Nadim witnessed the Taliban murdering her father at the tender age of just 11. Despite the difficulties and adversities she faced, thanks to the determination of her mother, Nadia and her sisters finally made their way to Denmark after a modern-day "Odyssey".
Asked about those early years and her journey to freedom, she replied: "Its very hard to say, I remember the beautiful days of living in Afghanistan, where everything was really nice, but then all of a sudden it became a war zone and we had to escape. Its very hard to think back to these moments..."
On a happier note, when asked about the highlights of her time playing football, she said that her most vivid memory from football was when she first saw girls playing the game, at the refugee camp in Denmark: "That was like something I'd never seen in my life before. So it was amazing and a memory that I carry with me forever and that made me want to play myself."
Given her position, which according to international surveys makes her one of the most influential women in the world, Nadim says she tries to make the best possible use of this, given that she has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
"As I'm always saying, I was put here to inspire and to help others. I spend my days by waking up early, I do training every morning at the team's facilities, and at the moment I'm doing rehab training as I'm injured. Normally we stay at the facilities until after lunch for breakfast, training, lunch and another training. As I do a lot of other work as well, outside of football, I do a lot of work on the computer, meetings and so on after trainings, and then I go to bed quite early around 21:00 to be able to have strength and power for the next day," she said.
Currently, she is playing for Racing Louisville FC in Kentucky, in the American NWSL. Alongside that, she works a lot with charity all over the world. In the past, the 35-year-old has played with top teams, including Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Denmark's national team.
Winning the league with Paris Saint-Germain was one of the most important moments of her career, Nadim said: " I came there with a mission, and I stayed there until that mission was accomplished. I'm still very fond of Paris Saint-Germain as a club and it's like my second family. I spent some time with Paris Saint-Germain President Mr Nasser Al-Khelaifi during the World Cup this winter, and it was great to catch up again after a few years."
Asked about the media reaction to her decision to become an ambassador for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar - even though fans seemed to adore her at the match on June 24 against Brazil, which took place at Parken in Copenhagen - she commented:
"I always felt the love from the fans, and it was amazing coming on against Brazil and making the assist to the winning goal. I think most of the reaction was created by the local Danish media, and to be honest it did not bother me that much. What bothered me was that they went out after my family and friends, in order to get to me. That made me both angry and sad. But I guess that's the reality we live in nowadays."
Nadim's accomplishments are not confined to soccer stadiums, however, as she recently completed a degree in medicine that she said was very important to her. 
"It means a lot to me, it's something that I've been working towards for a long time, which has been quite hard to combine with playing football at the highest level. It's always been one of my goals to become a doctor, ever since I was a little kid. I worked hard and sometimes my days have been like: 
Wake up 03:30
Morning training 04:00-05:00
Breakfast 05:30
School 06:00 to 15:00
Afternoon Training 15:30 to 17:30
Evening studies 18:00 to 21:00
21:30 to 03:30 sleeping.
As she was talking to the Greek media, a question on what, if anything, she thought of Greece was inevitable. She did not disappoint:
"I know its one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and I would love to go to visit some of the Greek islands. I obviously know Greek mythology and that you guys have fantastic food. I would also love to come and see any of the Thessaloniki or Athens derbies. I heard that the atmosphere is amazing."
Turning back to football, she outlined her immediate and long-term goals, saying: "My immediate goal is to come back to the field and be able to score a lot of more goals before I retire. Which hopefully won't be in the near future. [The] long-term goal is to continue to make a difference for young girls and women, in particular, all over the world, and to continue to be a role model for them."
As the interview drew to a close, the last question put to Nadia Nadim was what she would like to say to the powerful people of the planet if she could speak to them directly and what message she wanted to address to today's people and children. She replied:
"Stop fighting and respect each other. We won't progress as humans until we know how to respect each other. And for the children, go to school if you can. Get an education. Learn! You're the future of this planet and the world is counting on you to do better than we done...."