Afghanistan defeat Qatar in women's football friendly

Afghanistan defeat Qatar in women's football friendly

Afghan men love football; cheer their women's football team in Qatar

Doha: An Afghanistan women’s football team - comprising of US citizens of Afghani origin and Kabul based players – defeated Qatar women’s football team 2-0 in a friendly football match at Aspire Zone in Doha Qatar on Thursday evening.

For the FIFA World Cup 2022 hosts the match was one of the several matches they have planned for its women’s team as part of the learning process.

 “Our football team is still new and hasn’t competed in many high-profile events. We wanted to give them maximum domestic playing experience. Our plan for them is to organise at least one friendly game, against local teams, each week. It’ll help them grow,” said Ahlam Al Mana, President of Qatar Women’s Sport Committee (QWSC).

“The international friendly against Afghanistan at the Aspire Dome was an important game for us. Itl gave us an idea as to where we stand on the global stage,” said the QWSC president.

Two weeks back, the Qatar national team defeated a select US Embassy side 3-0 in a friendly game played at the Al Yarmouk Independent Preparatory School for Boys.

Women’s football in Qatar got a kick start with the introduction of the women’s league. The Qatar’s women’s football league is an initiative of QWSC and was launched by QWSC three years back in collaboration with Qatar Olympic Committee.

On the other hand, Afghan women football movement has been charting its own course despite been ravaged by war and constant threats of physical violence by the militant group Taliban.

The Afghanistan woman's football team was formed in 2007 under directives from the Afghanistan Olympic Committee. The first ever national side comprised of girls selected from schools in Kabul. In 2008, the team traveled to Pakistan to play in their first match their country. Since then, the Afghan girls have traveled to Jordan, Germany and Norway either to play exhibition matches or for training.

In December 2010, the team played its first official international games, during the South Asian Football Federation Women's Championships in Bangladesh.

 The Afghani squad  which arrived here on Tuesday night was a mixture of 11 home based players and six others who are US citizens but trace their roots to the war-ravaged country.

The team also comprises of five officials- one USA based coach, two men officials and two women officials.

Ravaged by several years of war the girls are fighting to play the game they love. Death threats from Taliban and the ostracising is no barrier for brave women in this conservative society, were women just aren’t meant to play sports at all.

One of them is Afghani striker Yasameen Ameery, she has been a regular member of the team for the last three years.

Yasameen, who did her studies in the USA in 2007, from where she picked up the game, says she was encouraged to play the game and she enjoys the backing of her family and friends.

“My three brothers are football players; my sister was a football player. She is married now. So the game runs in my family,” said Yasameen, who has now played in Norway, Germany, Jordan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Afghanistan has tried to retain the core members of the team for the last three years and Yasameen is one of the 11 players from Kabul who are here in Qatar.  The rest of the squad comprises six players based in the US.

“For three players this will be their first trip outside Afghanistan to play football, while for three more it is there second trip,” informed Zahra Mahmoodi, who plays as a midfielder.

The women footballers from the war-ravaged country arrived here on Tuesday night and had their first practice session at Aspire Academy yesterday evening.

For Kabul based players like Zahra, this was her first outdoor practice session with snow having forced the players to take shelter indoors in Afghanistan.

“As you know we have our own set of problems. If we practice for one month then we cannot practice thereafter for many months, and then, there is snow. For last one month we have not been able to practice outdoors as it was snowing. Before coming here we were practicising in a small room,” informed Zahra, who is studying for a degree in Physical Education at a university in Kabul.

The long war has not diminished the girls love for football and they watch high profile matches on the television, says Khatol Amrkhil, who guards the goal for the national team.

“We watch English premier League, Spanish League and all the other top leagues of the world besides other football competitions. We too have favourite football players. For me it is Cristiano Ronaldo,” she disclosed.