The sniggering kids kept pointing and staring at Margarita Chernomyrdina when she was small because she played football with the boys.
She was the first girl brave enough to try and make the junior league.
Now rapt crowds watch the 22-year-old lead the women’s national team in its quest to win acceptance and respect in Vladimir Putin’s socially conservative Russia.
The technically-gifted midfielder with the firm gaze and soft smile knows the men’s World Cup kicking off in Moscow in a month could work miracles for the Russian women’s game.
“I think I gave women’s football a certain push,” Chernomyrdina says after a spirited practice with her domestic side Chertanovo.
“Girls saw that they could play football, that it was allowed, that nothing was banned, and that parents should not be afraid,” she says.