Inverness Caley Thistle's American recruit Bella Viana hoping Highland stay can launch her back into full-time football
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Caley Thistle Women's latest recruit has already hit the ground running – and she is keen to impress enough to earn a return to full-time football.
Bella Viana got off the mark for her new club in the defeat to Rossvale last weekend, making an immediate impact for the Highland club.
Hailing from Los Angeles County, half-American and half-Brazilian Viana proved a regular goal threat from attacking midfield in college soccer in the States before moving to Europe.
Her first stop was not Scotland though. Instead, Spain called, as Viana played in the now-fourth-tier of Spanish football for Malaga City.
It was while on the continent that she met her Invernessian boyfriend, Rothes player Callum Haspell, so a move to Scotland beckoned and after a potential move to SWPL side Hearts fell through she was offered a chance to keep playing by Caley Thistle manager Karen Mason.
It is a long way from home, but Viana's family have been very supportive of her path so far.
"My dad is from Brazil, so football is definitely ingrained in his culture and where he's from," Viana explained.
"He has been my number one supporter.
"My mom is so happy, because it gives her a reason to travel. She came and visited me in Spain and we went to France and Italy, and she came to Scotland last Christmas.
"When I couldn't drive, my parents were driving me to games and tournaments three or four hours away in different states, so they're both really happy that I'm following my dream.
"At the moment football is my main priority and we'll see what happens a couple of years down the line."
Even though ICT are not full time, Viana is treating this fresh start like a job.
Such is her determination to get back to full time football, she is training by herself on off-days to become as much of a success as she can be with Inverness.
"At the moment I'm not working, so I go to the gym on the days we're not training or go to the fields and practice," she said.
"I want to play as much as I can and be seen by as many people as I can.
"In the future, I want to get back to full-time football and play at the highest level I can possibly play at.
"For the team, it would obviously be the coolest achievement to get a promotion, that would be really nice for the town and the team.
"I know the girls would be over the moon about that."
Having a full-time approach should bode well for Viana with Caley Thistle in the Championship, and she has already had a taste of what to expect this season.
After making her debut as a substitute in the win over Ayr two weeks ago, Viana got her first goal in Scotland in the 4-2 defeat to Rossvale last time out.
Ahead of what could be her first home start this Sunday against Dryburgh Athletic, then, there are some stark differences to adjust to compared to what Viana was used to in Spain.
"It's definitely a different style of play to what I've come from in Spain," she reflected.
"I like the physical aspect of the game as well as being technical. In Spain you barely touch someone and they fall, but here's it's nice because you can really be aggressive.
"The standard, the level of the teams we've played so far has been good.
"This last weekend we played Rossvale, and they were the first time where I was like 'oh, ok', because they had a lot of good players.
"When you're up against a more competitive team you have to give more than 100 per cent.
"Unfortunately we lost that game, but there were a lot of positives from that game as well.
"It was definitely nice to be able to score, and hopefully that's not going to be my last goal for Inverness."
