Natasha Anasi: Making Decisions on Opportunities Outside the U.S.

The Soccer Geeks Podcast

“You can be a mom and play at the highest level. I just love playing soccer too much that I am not ready to be done.”

Natasha grew up in Arlington, TX and started playing at the age of 5 and often trained with the boys because of her stature. She knew that professional was the route she wanted to go and decided on playing soccer at Duke to kick off her adult soccer journey. Starting off as a pre-med undergrad, she eventually graduated with a degree in Political Science and minored in Sociology while playing for the women’s soccer team at Duke. Anasi’s post-graduation plan was to play in the States and that changed quickly.

She landed in Iceland and within 24 hours she was starting at the attacking mid position. We talk with Natasha about her playing career throughout Iceland’s club teams, training 9 weeks after her daughter was born, adjusting and learning the language, and making the decision to get her Icelandic citizenship in December 2019. Shortly thereafter she got the call and was making her international debut in March 2020.

About Natasha Anasi

Natasha Moraa Anasi is a footballer who plays as a defender for Breiðablik. Born and raised in the United States, Anasi played college football for the Duke Blue Devils before moving to Iceland in 2014, where she joined Úrvalsdeild kvenna club ÍBV. She moved to fellow Icelandic club Keflavík ÍF in 2017. In 2019, Anasi received an Icelandic citizenship and in February 2020, she was selected to the Icelandic national team for the first time. On March 4 2020, Anasi made her senior debut for Iceland in a 1–0 friendly win against Northern Ireland. On February 20 2022, she scored her first goal for Iceland when she scored the first goal in Iceland's 2-1 victory against Czech Republic.

Follow Natasha on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natashaanasi/