Meet the Dos Santos sisters, Matildas junior talents, who are granddaughters of Portuguese migrants

At 15, Indiana dos Santos has already scored a goal in the A-League and is the youngest champion of the competition ever. Jynaya played in the under-20 World Cup for the Matildas. The rising career of both, whose grandparents immigrated from the Azores in 1971, is an example of the integration of the Portuguese diaspora in Australia. We talked to them and their father, Mark.

Indiana (esquerda), 15 anos, e Jyndaya, 17 anos, comemoram o título da A-League pelo Sydney FC: sangue português no esporte australiano.

Indiana dos Santos was just 15 years and 170 days old when she scored for the professional A-League team in March of this year.

She became the youngest athlete to enter an A-League final a month later. And with the thrashing of Sydney FC over Western United in the decision (4-0), Indiana is now the youngest national champion in Australian football since the women's competition exists.

Indiana Dos Santos (segunda da esquerda para direita) comemora na final da A-League contra o Western United: mais jovem campeã australiana no feminino. Source: AAP / JAMES GOURLEY/AAPIMAGE

At 17, her sister Jynaya is also part of the main cast of Sky Blues. Both play in the Matildas youth divisions, for which Jynaya even participated in the Under-20 World Cup in Costa Rica last year.

Jynaya dos Santos esteve no elenco da Austrália na Copa do Mundo sub-20 em 2022, na Costa Rica.

The beginning of these two promising football stories in Australia dates back to 52 years ago, when Rogeiro and Dalia, the paternal grandparents of Jynaya and Indiana, left Ilha Terceira, in the Azores, in Portugal, to try a better life on the other side of the world.

Today, the rising career of the two girls is a sign of the integration of the Portuguese diaspora in Australia - and not just Portuguese, since, on the side of the mother Melissa, the family has Maltese roots.

Melissa e Mark dos Santos, pais de Indiana e Jynaya, na comemoração do título do Sydney FC. Ela, filha da diáspora maltesa. Ele, filho de imigrantes portugueses.

We spoke with Jyndaya, Indiana and Mark dos Santos, the proud father of the girls who is the son of immigrants from Portugal.

Let's get to know this family from peaceful Shellharbour, on the coast of Illawarra, in New South Wales.

As quatro irmãs irmãs juntas: Kyani, Jynaya, Indiana e Imogen. Todas jogam futebol em algum grau.

Indiana, Jynaya and Mark tell us about the players' rise to the top tier of Australian soccer. The athletes also talk about how they juggle school and the sport, their hobbies and soccer idols. And Mark tells a little about the history of his paternal grandparents who made their lives in Down Under.

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