Mimi Eiden Proud to Make Liberia Debut
The 22-year-old gained the admiration of the few Liberians who had the chance to watch her play for the first time (Photo: Anthony Kokoi).
It's been a long time coming since Mimi Eiden had a dream of representing her country Liberia as a football player.
Eiden, who currently plays for Montana University in the United States, lived in Liberia until the age of six before being adopted by the Eiden family in the United States. Her dream finally came true on Wednesday, October 20, when she featured for Liberia women’s national team against Senegal in the 2022 Africa Women's Cup of Nations qualifiers at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium.
Eiden was handed the starting role and went on to play the entire 90 minutes in Liberia’s lost 2-1 against Senegal. The 22-year-old, who started as a point striker and later dropped deep in midfield, gained the admiration of the few Liberians who had the chance to watch her play for the first time.
According to the 22-year-old, she had always had three cardinal things on mind -- to go to college and graduate, to play division-one football in the U.S and to come back to play for her country.
“It was definitely my pleasure coming back to play for my country and with my teammates and to represent my country. The versatile player, she wants to be seen as an example of people who are willing to return home and represent their country.
“I don’t think a lot of people who go to America are willing to come back to represent their country, so I want to be that person that others will look at and make a decision to come back and represent their country,” she added.
Eiden still remains positive that Liberia can make a comeback in the second-leg in Dakar, Senegal, despite the 2-1 loss in the first leg. Liberia will travel to Dakar on Friday, October 22 for the return leg on October 26 at the Stade Lat-Dior.