Every successful athlete has their own unique success story. Many sports stars aren’t as privileged as the common teenager who is passionate about sports. Even today, quite a few of the most premium athletes, like Cristiano Ronaldo have a ‘rags to riches’ story. Angel City forward, Jun Endo has a similar story. The Japanese soccer star was always passionate about soccer, but the situations around her were never the best.

However, there was this one turning point in 2011 that completely changed the way Endo perceived everything.

Whilst in conversation with ESPN, Endo speaks about how an earthquake helped the Japanese soccer star become one of the most electrifying players in women’s soccer.

Endo’s life-changing soccer experience in 2011

Jun Endo had a life-changing experience at the age of 11. While she was in gym class at school, the neighborhood felt the deadly shiver of a 9.1 magnitude earthquake. Luckily, the earthquake only left an impression on the school’s playground by splitting it in half. That was also the time Fukushima had simultaneously faced a catastrophic meltdown at the Daiichi nuclear plant.

Considering the locality is radioactive, more than 50 countries banned the importation of food from Endo’s town. “They treated me like I was a germ”, she told ESPN. She also revealed that she thought about giving up. She continued, “I thought, I can’t continue. There’s no future for me”. But her perspective on life changed after the 2011 Women’s World Cup.

Just four months after the set of disasters, Japan still showed up for the 2011 Women’s World Cup. After a set of good performances, the Japanese had to just get past USA in the final. And to everyone’s joy, Japan managed to beat the USWNT on penalties. One of the Japanese midfielders, Aya Sameshima was shockingly a worker at the Daiichi nuclear plant during the natural disaster.

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Endo then went through a process of self-realization. She said, “Watching these players, who experienced the same earthquake, the same struggles, play in the World Cup, made me think, I can do this too”. And the rest is history. While 22-year-old Endo has stabilized her soccer career in America, let’s take a deeper look at Japan’s performance at the 2011 Women’s World Cup.

Japan inspired the world after winning the 2011 Women’s World Cup

The 2011 Women’s World Cup win was a special one for Japan. The 2-2 nail bitter was filled with drama and emotions till the very last second. The country of Japan had been through a lot before reaching the final. They had to get past stronger sides like England and Mexico in the group stage. Followed by Germany and Sweden in the knockout rounds.

After winning the final with an iconic 3-1 score in the penalty shootout against the USWNT, the soccer universe bowed down to the Japanese women’s soccer team. They had won the World Cup just four months after a triple disaster in their country. USWNT goalkeeper, Hope Solo said admitted after the game, “I truly believe that something bigger was pulling for them”, as per FIFA.

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While Japan lifted the World Cup, youngsters like Jun Endo’s disaster-struck life suddenly had an objective again. What are your thoughts on the same? Let us know in the comments below.