“I cried when they played our anthem, I felt it in my heart”
|Diana Covaciu travelled with the Romanian team to referee at the tournament in Fuenlabrada. Image: Malena Miralles
21-year-old Romanian footballer Diana Covaciu travelled with Clubul Sportiv Fotbal De Strada Metanoia to train to become a referee in Fuenlabrada in November.
She might be small in stature, but Diana Covaciu is not a small presence as she steps onto the pitch to command the players and referee her first game. You wouldn’t realise that she only picked up a whistle for the first time the day before.
The strength that she shows on the pitch, is taken from years of overcoming difficulties and challenges. At three months old, Diana was found abandoned in her family house by police. She grew up in a Christian run orphanage with hundreds of other children of all ages.
“It was not a good experience growing up there, I have experienced the challenges of life for many people. Life is not easy. Life has problems, but we need to stay strong.”
Diana explains that while she doesn’t have a family, and has often felt alone, she has a strong connection to her country, her team, and the man in charge of the Romanian team, Mihai Rosus.
“I cried when they played our anthem, I felt it in my heart. I am proud to be from Romania. That feeling, it’s the best. When I think about Romania, I think about soccer. In my life I don’t have much support, but Mr Mihai, he supports me. He is a good guy. In the future I want to play for him and for our team.”
After what she’s overcome, you might expect Diana to distance herself from the challenges she grew up with, but she’s gone the opposite way and is a social worker, supporting other children who have found themselves in similar positions to her. It’s not only on the pitch where she is a born leader.
“It’s the most beautiful thing in life, I didn’t have that support in my life, nobody supported me, but God put it in my heart to support other people who don’t have a good life. I want to do something for children who don’t have support, who don’t have a good family. I speak to them, and I encourage them, and I like to do this. Maybe I will be a good coach in the future.”
“I want to stay strong for children and if I am a great woman in this life, maybe I will be like Mr Mihai. He is a great example and role model for me. My role models in life are God, then Mr Mihai and then my boss in the centre.”
If Romania get a medal at the tournament, Diana has already decided she’s going to give it to the American manager who supports her at the centre where she lives; “He deserves it, I don’t deserve many things, but he deserves a lot.”
Looking ahead, Diana is hoping to secure a place on the Romanian team as a player as well as continuing to be a referee.
| Diana Covaciu with fellow Homeless World Cup trainee Portuguese referee Marco Rebelo. Image: HWC/Adrian Za
“I really like being a referee, but my favourite is to play soccer. I want to do something like Mr Mihai in future, but first I want to play for him.”
“When I play football, I forget my problems and I just play. When you score a goal it’s the best feeling in the world.”
Meeting this young woman, nothing is going to stop her from achieving her dreams of representing her country and supporting the next generation. And what’s even better, she’s now got two roles on the pitch - as a player and as a referee.
Find out more about Clubul Sportiv Fotbal De Strada Metanoia and their programmes in Romania.
Words: Rebecca Corbett
Images: Malena Miralles