Kathmandu, Dec. 24 -- The story of world football is told through countless individual journeys, many of them rooted in hometown clubs. One such journey began at Malmo FF, where Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic took his first professional steps. And the club has now occupied space in the consciousness of Nepali football fans after a Nepali youngster signed a professional contract with the Swedish giants.

Sashwat Rana, 18, signed a professional contract with Malmo FF on November 20. Rana was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 27, 2007, to Bibek Rana, a former national-level karateka of Nepal who left for Denmark in 2002, and Susila Hamal.

Entry to football

Sashwat started playing football from his early days with his father, a local-level ...