Women's National Team plays its first friendly match against Seychelles

2022-02-19
21:23:26

The women's national team will officially open its international matches tomorrow, Sunday, when it faces Seychelles national team at 7:00 pm (KSA time) at the National Stadium in the Maldivian capital "Male".

The national team program will also include another friendly match against Maldives national team next Thursday at the same stadium.

The national team had inaugurated its program with a preparatory camp on 14 January in Jeddah, before moving on to the second phase on 27 January, which included a camp in Riyadh, and then leaving for Maldives on Thursday for the third and final phase of the first program in the history of the national team.

25 players were called to the national team list by German coach Monica Stubb, who stressed the importance of this historic match, noting: "We are facing a historic moment for Saudi women's football, and I would like to ask the players to enjoy this match, and to be Proud to be on this list and to have the opportunity to live this experience, which is only the beginning of what is to come.”

Monica added: "The players have to give everything they have in these two matches, and seize this opportunity to represent Saudi Arabia well, They are very lucky to have this opportunity."

Member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and Director of the Women’s Football Department, Lamia Bin Bahian, confirmed that this match is a result of the efforts made in Saudi women’s football.

She said: "Our first match is a historic event, which SAFF has worked on since the first day of the formation of the Women's Football Department in 2019, and here we are today transforming the dream into reality thanks to the great support for sports and football in particular, from our government and continuous follow-up from His Highness the Minister of Sports And Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation".

Bin Bahyan added: “This is the beginning, and we have a long way to go until we reach the goal that we seek to achieve with the national team, which is to reach the farthest point of the international and regional championships in the upcoming participations, as I congratulate every player reached the last list of 25 players, and I thank them very much for their efforts and keenness to be in the national team, and I repeat that we have a long way to go to continue what we have started”.

It is worth noting that the team’s list included the players: Lama Al-Anazi, Sarah Khaled, Mona Abdel Rahman (goalkeeper), Atheer Khaled, Bayan Sadaqah, Hessa Al-Saadallah, Lin Muhammad, Lana Abdel-Razzaq, Ohoud Al-Amari, Tala Al-Ghamdi, Mashael Al-Harbi (defense), Asrar Al-Shaibani, Dalia Abu Laban, Fahda Al-Saad, Juri Tariq, Layan Johari, Maryam Al-Tamimi, Farah Jafri, Noura Al-Ibrahim, Raghad Mukhaizin, Sarah Hamad and Saba Tawfiq (centre), Al-Bandari Mubarak, Al-Bandari Muhammad, Tahani Al-Zahrani (attack).