Fiji veteran Roy Krishna still setting the standard at 36
The striker, who is Fiji's most-capped and top-scoring footballer in history, continues to break ground as one of the few professional footballers playing outside the country, and says he wants to inspire youngsters to believe they can make it pro abroad.
Football
Mention football in Fiji and one name instantly comes to mind: the "Wonder Boy", captain Roy Krishna.
Krishna is now very much not a boy. The 36-year-old, who has represented his national team for 16 years, has turned into the country's biggest football legend.
Fiji's most-capped international and top goalscorer is on course to ring up his half-century in international appearances at the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands, having won his 49th cap and scored his 33rd, 34th, and 35th goals in the opening 10–0 win against Northern Mariana Islands.
And he's also been charting a course for Fijian footballers ever since he was 20, when he moved abroad to New Zealand to pursue his dream of playing professional football.
"There were no professional footballers," he explained to Fiji Village in a recent interview. "I needed to create this path for the young Fijian footballers who wanted to play professional overseas."
Roy Krishna the history maker
Krishna has been a history maker for football hopefuls in Fiji, in a country whose sporting landscape is dominated by the more popular rugby union and rugby sevens.
Not only did Krishna play in New Zealand, first for the semi-professional Waitakere United then their cross-town rivals Auckland City, but also in Australia's A-League for the Kiwi-based side Wellington Phoenix. More recently, a move to India's Super League has seen Krishna represent three different teams in India.
The 36-year-old is one of only two Fijian players (alongside New Zealand-based Brendan McMullen) in their 2023 Pacific Games squad to ply their professional trade outside of Fiji. It also means he will be forced to leave the camp after the team's second group match against Tahiti, as FIFA's international match window for official matches will close and he will have to return to Odisha, his current Indian Super League club.
That won't faze Krishna, who has represented Fiji with aplomb at international level as well as as an individual. As one of Fiji's three overaged players, he also captained the country's under-23 team at its only Olympic Games appearance in 2016, scoring the team's only goal.
"I won't say it's been an easy ride," Krishna said of his journey to this point. "There were some difficult moments on the way but I'm really happy where I am."
Krishna did not grow up speaking much English, something which complicated his move to Waitakere in 2008. He had only Fijian and Hindi to rely on at first. "I think just the language barrier, it was difficult to understand New Zealand football but I had a lot of good people around me to pick (me) up when I needed them," he said.
And even though his family background is in India, Krishna also struggled with his 2019 move to that country. But, just as with his move to New Zealand, Krishna carries all of Fiji's football hopes on his backs and gets on with it.
"It's been a good journey so far. I just needed to do well for myself, and at the same time I needed to create this path (for the next generation) so that was my motivation for me to do it."
What's the future for Roy Krishna?
Krishna may still be fondly called the "Wonder Boy" by Fijian media, but at 36, how much longer does he realistically have in his boots internationally?
While his performances at club level show no sign of slowing down, signs are starting to show that Fiji may be preparing for life without their biggest star of the last 15 years.
For starters, although he is the national team captain, Krishna was a surprise omission from Fiji's last round of international call-ups in March.
Fiji are also based in the Oceania Football Confederation, world football's smallest confederation, meaning don't play as many internationals as other countries. That Krishna has only played 49 games and is already the country's most-capped player attests to that. With so few games each year for Fiji, it may not be a surprise to see him decide at some point to prolong his club career in favour of the long travel back to Oceania.
However, for now, one of Fijian football's finest servants continues to lead the way. And the next generation watches on knowing that they, too, can become a Roy Krishna in future.