Grace Dangmei (born 5 February 1996) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Sribhumi and the India women's national team. She was part of the team from 2014 to 2022 Asian Games. At the 2016 South Asian Games she scored two goals against Sri Lanka. During the 2016 SAFF Women's Championship she scored a goal in the final, helping India clinch its fourth consecutive title.
Grace Dangmei was born to Simon Dangmei and Rita Dangmei. She belongs to the Rongmei tribe from Dimdailong Village, Kangvai Sub-Division, Churachandpur District, Manipur.
Dangmei played the inaugural edition of the Indian Women's League with KRYPHSA and spent another season with the club. She joined Sethu in 2019 for the 3rd edition of the IWL. During the 2018 Indian Women's League, she was awarded the Emerging Player Award. She scored a brace in her first match with Sethu FC against Manipur Police Sports Club on 6 May 2019, and won the 2018âÂÂ19 IWL season.
She then joined Gokulam Kerala in 2021, and earned vice-captaincy. Later on July 15, 2021, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) nominated Gokulam Kerala to represent India in the AFC Women's Club Championship 2020âÂÂ21 pilot tournament. She appeared in the matches of the 2021 AFC Women's Club Championship. She had a brilliant performance against FC Bunyodkor (women), which is the women's team of Uzbekistan on 14 November, where her side won 3âÂÂ1. In that continental tournament, they achieved third place. In the 2021âÂÂ22 season, her team Gokulam Kerala clinched the title and qualified for the AFC Women's Club Championship.
On July 2, 2022, it was announced Grace had signed a professional contract abroad, with the Uzbek Women's League side FC Nasaf Karshi on a season-long deal. She helped her Uzbek team win both the league and cup in that calendar year, scoring 4 goals in 14 league matches.
Grace appeared with India U-19 in 2014.
She made her senior international debut at the AFC Qualifiers in 2013, and became a regular member of the women's national team. In the six years with the national team, she made 37 appearances and scored 14 goals.
In November 2019, she played the first round of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualifying tournament at Myanmar.
Later, at the 2019 South Asian Games, they clinched a gold, defeating Nepal. Her brace against Indonesia at the 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifier Round 2 match, gave her popular fame.
Grace represented India at the 2021 International Women's Football Tournament of Manaus, where they faced teams like Brazil, and Chile. She scored a goal against Venezuela on December 1, in their 2âÂÂ1 defeat.
On 7 September 2022, at the SAFF Women's Championship in Nepal, she scored a goal against Pakistan in their 3âÂÂ0 win. In 2022, she played the AFC Women's Asian Cup. In August 2023, she played the 2022 Asian Games at Hangzhou, China.
India
Sethu
Gokulam Kerala
Sevinch Karshi
KRYPHSA
Manipur
Individual
Cited sources
Further reading