AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup:
Head coach Soleimani dedicates World Cup spot to ‘Iranian women’
Iranian girls may have fallen short of retaining the title at the AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup but the two-time champion still left China with a something to cheer about, as the third-place finish secured a spot for the country at the Women’s World Cup in November.
Maral Torkaman – the top scorer in China with six goals – netted twice either side of a Nastaran Moqimi’s strike to help Iran defeat the host 3-1 in Hohhot on Saturday and join Japan and Thailand in booking a ticket for the inaugural world showpiece in the Philippines.
Iran head coach Forouzan Soleimani hailed the achievement as something that is built on the collective efforts of the women’s futsal community back home.
“This World Cup qualification is a credit to all of futsal women in Iran and is invaluable for them,” she said. “It is a huge community full of girls and women who love the sport, all across the country and in provinces far away from the cities. They play with passion and love.
“They support us every day and give us strength, and we do what we do for them.”
The 55-year-old added that Iran’s status as a traditional powerhouse in the continent can be attributed to establishing women’s futsal earlier than most other countries in Asia, starting around 20 years ago, which has since flourished into a network of around 100 teams across three divisions.
“All 32 provinces have their own leagues, and each team is led by experienced female coaches,” she added.
Soleimani also paid tribute to her charges for bouncing back from the disappointment of the 3-2 loss to Japan in the semifinals and looked ahead to a decent World Cup debut come November.
“Our aim was to defend our title, so we were mentally down after the last-four defeat,” she said. “What we did was to talk to them and motivate them, including the mental aspect.”
“We knew how China would play and we asked our players to play powerfully and with high pressure; the match was very hard, but we were more experienced and created more opportunities, which led to our victory.
“Our players compete regularly in domestic leagues and we also have frequent training camps, so this is also what we will continue to do to prepare for the World Cup.”