Miraash clears Kings League tryout round, makes it into top 32

Maldivian footballer, Miraash Imthiyaz (Miri), an active footballer in the Spanish football scene has cleared the Kings League tryouts held last night, securing a spot at the top 32 players.

Miraash made his way into the last round of selections from among over three thousand participants in Barcelona.

With 40 participants, the final selections handpicked 32 footballers who will make their way onto the League Draft Day on September 11. Players were selected based on viewers votes via global streaming platform Twitch, and also based on their performance, with the top ten athletes with the most votes guaranteed a spot on Draft Day.

The fourteen athletes with the lowest number of votes lost their chance to advance further, and the remaining sixteen faced off in a match to secure a slot at the Draft Day.

The 24-year old, who donned his 181 bib number, unfortunately was not amongst the top ten most voted for, but neither was he in the bottom 14. However, it was his performance that shone through for him, guaranteeing his place on Draft Day.

"I was very nervous from the beginning. I did the precision test first and that went fine, so I relaxed. [A]nd the speed and power one was easy," he told The Edition after his tryouts.

"But then in the one on one, two on two and three on three, I was defending the whole time, so of course the audience wasn't voting for me, so I fell to the 29th [place]."

It was by the last three on three round that Miraash got the ball and was able to show his true skills.

"On the last three on three, I got the ball and they [the audience] was able to see me [so] I jumped to 23rd with the votes and was able to save my self," he explained, adding "but yeah, a lot of nerves the whole time."

On September 11th - the Draft Day, twelve teams will get 2-3 picks from the top 32 players.

"To be honest, I don't mind either [getting selected for any of the teams], but It would be nice to have [Sergio] Agüero or Iker [Casillas] as my president, because I grew up idolising them," Miraash said when asked which team he hopes to be selected for.

The Kings League is a, a seven-a-side football league launched by former Barcelona and Manchester United defender Gerard Piqué, after stepping away from professional football in 2022.

Miraash, a 24-year-old midfielder, has played for the Maldives' National Team in 2022. He trained at UE Cornellà's academy and played for the club in the country's youth tournament, as well as in the Catalan League.

Miraash began his football journey at the age of three and moved to Spain at 13 to advance his career. In addition to his football activities, he currently works as a flight instructor at EAS Barcelona, an aviation school.