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More than 30 years ago, the first Thai restaurant opened in Berkeley. While the business expanded and changed location over the ensuing years, Plearn Thai Kitchen – owned and operated by the Nild family – now sits near the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Bancroft Way, one block away from Cal's historic Edwards Stadium.
 
Miranda Nild, a senior on the Cal women's soccer team, can be found inside that stadium most days during the fall. More often than not, putting the ball in the back of the net.
 
A product of Castro Valley, Nild is coming off a standout junior season in which she led the Golden Bears in scoring with seven goals and was voted the team's offensive MVP.
 
Yet years before the striker was scoring goals for the Bears, Nild would make the short walk up from the restaurant to Cal's campus with her parents and older brother.
 
"Growing up, it was a family thing," Nild recalled. "We would come in on the weekends to spend time at the restaurant, then we'd just pack up some food and walk over to watch Cal volleyball and soccer games. Even now, my parents will still walk over from the restaurant to come watch our games. It's a little family fest."
 
In a few months, Nild's family might need to travel more than a few blocks to watch her play.
 
When the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup kicks off in France next June, Nild is very likely to find her name on Thailand's final roster, having established herself as one of the nation's top offensive talents over the last year. This past April, Nild scored twice at the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup in Amman, Jordan, helping Thailand to a fourth-place finish in the tournament and clinching the nations' second trip ever to the Women's World Cup.
 
Like most youth soccer players swept up by soccer fever of the late 1990s, Nild grew up watching and idolizing the U.S. Women's National Team, dreaming of one day playing in the World Cup in a red, white and blue jersey of her own. Despite an accomplished club and high school career, Nild was never called into camp with the U.S. Youth National teams and the dream seemed unattainable.
 
After coming to Cal in the fall of 2015 and earning a key role in the Golden Bears' offense, Nild eventually drew the attention of the Football Association of Thailand, who were intrigued by the 5'9" striker's size and scoring ability. Eligible for Thai citizenship through her father, Jerry, who was born in Thailand and moved to California at the age of 10, Nild was invited to join the Thailand full national team in April of 2017 for a pre-qualifying tournament in Palestine. However under FIFA rules, doing so would prevent her from competing for the United States.
 
"It was definitely a difficult decision," Nild said. "I spent a lot of time talking to my coaches and my family, trying to figure out if I should go play with Thailand or decline it and try to wait for my 'big break' here. But opportunities like these are rare, and my Thai heritage is really important to me, so I decided to go for it."
 
While the global nature of the game allowed Nild to quickly find her footing on the field, adjusting to the language and cultural differences proved much more difficult. Although she grew up speaking Thai at home with her family, her language skills declined in high school and college.
 
"That first trip to Palestine was definitely the hardest one," Nild admitted. "I went by myself and had a really hard time getting to know my teammates because my Thai was so rusty. It was pretty isolating, not being able to really communicate with anyone around me."
 
With each subsequent call-in, Nild has grown more and more comfortable with her new teammates and is quickly picking the language back up.
 
"When I first got called in last year, I was constantly mixing up my words on the field," Nild laughed. "I would say things like 'tall' instead of 'long' and have no idea why my teammates would be laughing. But now my Thai has gotten so much better and I'm so much more myself. I can be sarcastic and make jokes and really get to know the girls. They joke about how much better my interviews have gotten and always watch me during the national anthem to see if I can sing along with all the words."
 
That increasing level of comfort and enjoyment has become more and more evident on the field. Just three months after World Cup Qualifying, Nild re-joined the Thailand National Team for the AFF Women's Championship in Indonesia, scoring six goals in five matches while helping Thailand claim its third consecutive title.
 
Beyond the trophy, this summer's tournament held extra meaning as the eyes of the world were fixed on Thailand and the rescue of 12 youth soccer players and their coach from a cave.
 
"It was pretty surreal, being in with the national team while it was going on," said Nild. "A lot of the girls would watch the news every night for updates and when it was finally announced that they were rescued, everyone was running up and down the halls of the hotel celebrating. As a team we sent out a message that we would be playing for them, and that we were so grateful they had been rescued. I had never been a part of something like that before - something on behalf of a whole nation - so that was a really cool experience."
 
When it comes to what it would mean to represent Thailand on soccer's biggest stage, Nild still hasn't quite found the words to describe it, regardless of the language. It might take a few more months – until the final roster is officially announced and the plane touches down in France – to fully sink in.
 
"It really hasn't hit me yet," Nild admitted. "I'm definitely excited but it hasn't fully registered that this is actually the World Cup. I'm sure reality won't hit me until we walk into a stadium in France and definitely if we were to play the United States. In terms of competition, I live for games like that. When you play for Thailand or other small countries, you always want to play teams like the United States and get to test yourself against big, successful nations. That would just be such a cool experience, to be out on the field at the World Cup with my two countries."
 
With less than a year until the first match, the excitement continues to build.
 
But for now, Nild remains focused on Cal's season and the months ahead in Berkeley, determined to keep putting the ball in the back of the next at Edwards Stadium.
 
Just a few years, countless goals, and one block away from where it all began.