With the first Sydney Derby of the season in the Ninja A-League fast approaching, aleagues.com.au caught up with Sydney FC star Indiana Dos Santos to reflect on a whirlwind 18 months for the teenage prodigy.
There are many top-level footballers who will go their entire careers without ever winning a Championship, let alone winning two in consecutive seasons.
But to be a two-time Champion before you’ve even turned 17? That’s almost unheard of.
Well, unless your name is Indiana Dos Santos.
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After making her Sky Blues debut during the 2022-23 campaign aged just 15 years and 146 days, Dos Santos ultimately finished her first season as a top-flight footballer with not one, but two pieces of silverware, securing the Ninja A-League Premiership/Championship double.
Fast forward 12 months and Dos Santos now sits at Sydney FC’s Sky Park training facility as a dual-Championship winner, yet she believes we’ve only seen glimpses of what she can do.
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“I’ve been working very hard, especially on my fitness and just my shooting,” Dos Santos told aleagues.com.au.
“Just tweaking little things that I think I need to improve on by watching back my games and previous clips from games and training. Just really working hard on things that I need to improve on.”
While she already has three major titles in her trophy cabinet and has represented Australia at youth level for some time now, it’s easy to forget that Dos Santos is still a player very much learning her craft, despite the fact she’s one of the most talked about young talents in the country.
“I think definitely just pushing to get into the starting XI,” said the teenager when asked what her main goals are this season in the Ninja A-League.
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“I think that would be a big challenge for me, because the quality this year is very good. So I think it’s just going to push me as a player and as a person.
“It’s going to be challenging, It’s going to make me grow a lot, but I’m excited for it.”
Sydney FC certainly look a very different side so far this Ninja A-League campaign compared to the one which secured back-to-back Championships last season.
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Headlined by the exit of Matildas star Cortnee Vine, the Sky Blues also lost the likes of goalkeeper Jada Whyman and Player of the Year Charlotte McLean after both made moves during the off-season.
But its the departure of a lower profile Sydney FC player that’s likely to have a big effect on the progression of Dos Santos – that of her older sister, Jynaya Dos Santos.
Joined at the hip for much of their junior footballing careers – including coming through the Sydney FC academy together – 19-year-old Jynaya opted to move on from the Sky Blues in the off-season in search of regular first team football.
The eldest Dos Santos sister ultimately landed at Canberra United for the 2024-25 Ninja A-League campaign meaning the pair will likely face off against one another at some stage this season.
“I can’t wait to play against her, we’ve been talking about it. She’s been talking a little bit of crap so hopefully we can win!”
But sibling rivalry aside, Dos Santos believes the departure of her sister from Sydney FC actually provides her with a hefty challenge to overcome.
“It’s going to be be hard (not having my sister around) because she’s a role model to me and I always look up to her.
“So not having her here, it’s a bit hard, but it will make me grow as a person and a player. I’ll have to do things on my own now and I don’t have her.
“I can push myself a bit harder, make new friends and, you know, get out of my comfort zone.”
The concept of ‘making new friends’ is one many would associate with a school student rather than an international footballer but the reality is, Dos Santos still fits into both of those categories.
In fact, the teenager balances school life with her burgeoning football career on a daily basis.
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“I’ll normally either get up early and my mum will drop me off at school before she goes to work and we’ll do an early session at school or go to the gym.
“Then we’ll have our school day and I’ll normally train in the afternoon at school, or depends on what day it is, and then sometimes I’m training here (at Sydney FC).
“I guess it’s really hard, but you’ve just got to think, like, you got to have a backup plan. So how much work you put into soccer you have to put into school.
She continued: “So in class, you have to really focus and try and get as much out of it as you can. Spend your time wisely, don’t waste it.
“Then when you’re in the car, instead of sitting there, maybe do some schoolwork. Because I travel a lot to training (and) my parents drive as well, it’s pretty easy. Just try to do what I can in the car.”
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So is Dos Santos as good a student as she is a footballer?
“I don’t really love school, I just do it because my mom’s constantly telling me, ‘make sure you do well'”, laughed the Sydney FC midfielder.
“I try my best, but I’m not like the smartest kid at school. I’d say my best subject is probably maths – when you understand it it’s really fun!”
Enrolled at the famous Westfields Sports High School in Sydney, Dos Santos is following in the footsteps of the likes of Matildas stars Ellie Carpenter and Alana Kennedy, and current teammate Princess Ibini while a whole host of Socceroos also trod the same path and went on to represent Australia.
Having represented her country across multiple youth levels to date including the 2024 AFC Under-20 Women’s Asian Cup, Dos Santos’ dreams of playing for the Young Matildas at a World Cup were realised earlier this year when she made the squad for the FIFA U20 World Cup in Colombia.
“It was just amazing, going to the World Cup was a dream come true. When I found out, I started crying because I was just over the moon.
“Especially going with my sister Jynaya, it was just, yeah, definitely a dream come true.
She continued: “Obviously the results didn’t go as planned, but the experience was just crazy. Playing in front of 30,000 people, it gave me goosebumps when I ran onto the field.
“I was so happy I was playing with smile on my face, I couldn’t wipe it off. It was definitely an experience I will never forget.
“But definitely want to hopefully push to make the next World Cup, and hopefully we can win some games and hopefully win the World Cup. That’ll be crazy.”
You can catch Indiana Dos Santos and her new-look Sydney FC side in action on November 16 when they face fierce rivals Western Sydney Wanderers in the Sydney Derby at Leichhardt Oval.
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