LUIK Aivi

General
RETURN TO SPAIN
In 2018/19 she played for Levante in Spain, before joining Avaldnses IL in Norway and then returning to Australia to play for Melbourne City. In July 2020 she returned to Spain to play for Sevilla. "I played two seasons ago in Spain for Levante, and I really enjoyed my time as challenging as it was. The team was really, really good. And I loved the way the league was a long league. It was very, very competitive, very technical. I wanted to continue learning Spanish, and I wanted to play in the league again. I wanted to come back. During the COVID spell when my agent was looking at the next chapter, there were a few teams interested. But once this one came up, it was a no brainer for me. I just had a feeling that this was the right pick for me." She has previously played club football in Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Canada. (worldfootball.net 14 May 2021; matildas.com.au, 17 Feb 2021)

THIRD TIME LUCKY
She was selected for her first World Cup in 2019 at age 34, having missed out on selection in 2011 and 2015. She made her debut as a substitute against Jamaica in a 4-1 group stage victory. "I hadn't lost all hope, because otherwise I would not still be playing. But after the first two World Cup disappointments I just let things come. I still worked hard, I still wanted it, but I just took every day as it came. In 2011, Tommy Sermanni was the head coach - it was the first heartbreak, which is the hardest, especially when you are younger. I had everything riding on it, thought I was doing well and then to hear the words that I wasn't in was just a real blow. Shortly after I got back on track, training again, looking forward to the next chance of making the World Cup. I was feeling good, working hard, and then the second blow [in 2015] really crushed me again. That was under Staj [Alen Stajcic]. I felt so happy and emotional [being selected in 2019]. It's been a long time coming. I've wanted to be here for 25 years and making the squad doesn't ensure you minutes. To have gotten minutes, I'm so happy. It's a dream come true really.'' (smh.com.au, 22 May 2019; nevadasportsnet.com, 20 Jun 2019)

STUDYING IN THE UNITED STATES
In 2005 she attended Brescia University in Kentucky, United States of America, where she played Division II football for one year before moving to the University of Nevada, a Division I college, for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. "I wanted to go to America to continue playing, basically because we didn't have any W-League here [in Australia at the time] and all I wanted to do was play football and America gave me the opportunity to both get your degree and play football. I [had] ran into this girl, who saw me at a library and said, 'My boyfriend is recruiting for one of the coaches at his university [Brescia]', and apparently he played at the same [junior] club as me, so I just chatted with him and through him the women's coach offered me a scholarship to go play. It [Nevada] was amazing. It felt like, with all due respect to Brescia, like I'd turned pro overnight. The facilities were amazing. We were given cleats, we were sponsored by Adidas. I was able to be part of the first [Nevada] team that got to the NCAA finals, that was a pretty big deal. We got to the WAC [West American Conference] final [and] we won it. I scored the winning penalty, which was an awesome feeling and then we went through to the NCAA tournament." (pfa.net.au, 31 Jan 2017)

She became the first female football player from the University of Nevada to play at a World Cup, when she appeared at the 2019 World Cup in France. In 2006 she was also captain of the first ever University of Nevada women's football team to take part in the National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA] national finals tournament. (nevadawolfpack.com, 04 Jun 2010; nevadasportsnet.com, 20 Jun 2019)