MOLATsportgist

The captain of the Afghanistan women’s football team has called on FIFA to save her teammates after the country’s capital city of Kabul fell to the Taliban earlier this week.

The Islamic extremist group has regained control over large parts of the country, having previously held power between 1996 and 2001 before US intervention.

Previously, the Taliban imposed its own strict version of Sharia law, which severely restricts the freedom of women and has put their safety in jeopardy.

Under the last regime, Afghan women were not allowed to work, study or be treated by male doctors, unless accompanied by a male. Those who broke these laws faced imprisonment, flogging and even execution.

With the country in a perilous situation, many members of the Afghan women’s football team are fearing for their lives.

Former Afghan women’s soccer captain Khalida Popal had always used her voice to encourage young women ‘to be bold, to be visible.’ But now, she has a different message for the Aghan players in a viral video: ‘delete social media, erase your public identity and burn your uniforms’.

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“I was one of the main people in the Afghan association who founded the women’s team with the purpose to stand together as women of Afghanistan and use football as an avenue of activism,” she said.

“We wanted to give the message to the world and to the Taliban that we (women) are not weak, you may kill our sisters but we will show you we are with them.

“These are young girls who went on social media and publicly said the Taliban was the enemy.

“I have been encouraging [the players] to take down social media channels, take down photos, escape and hide themselves,” she told the Associated Press.

She concluded “My players are now seeing that armed enemy outside their doors and windows and they are scared as to what will happen to them.”

Similarly, Mobarez, who is living in the United States at present, posted on Twitter urging football’s governing body to intervene and save her teammates.

The 25-year-old recounts a conversation she has had with a fellow player: “Are you ok,” Mobarez asks –– to which the response is “No, I am not – I know they will come for me soon, can you help me?”

Mobarez implored FIFA to “act and save” her teammates, describing them as her “sisters.”

The Afghanistan women’s team was formed in 2007 after the Taliban was last ousted from power. The side played their first competitive game three years later and registered their first win against Qatar in 2012.

The team which Popal helped create in 2007 is made up of foreign- and Afghanistan-based players, with the threat of reprisals against those still in the country high given their previous high-profile criticisms of the regime.

While this helped give women more responsibility and standing in Afghan society, Mobarez has revealed the Afghan Football Federation has given up on the team, hence her plea for help.“They are hidden in the homes of family or friends, without revealing their identity,” she told the Tribuna Expresso. ”Even the Afghan Football Federation members and staff simply disappeared, they were supposed to protect them and there is no one there.

“They are hidden in the homes of family or friends, without revealing their identity,” she told the Tribuna Expresso. ”Even the Afghan Football Federation members and staff simply disappeared, they were supposed to protect them and there is no one there.

“It looks like the people who had the money left and now we have all these helpless women left to fend for themselves.”

A terrible video that went viral as civilians tried to flew Kabul has now been confirmed that one of those who tragically fell from a US Air Force plane departing from Kabul as Taliban took over the war-torn country was reportedly a member of the Afghan national football team, Zaki Anwari (19), DG, Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, Davood Moradian told UN Security Council Thursday.

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Mobarez also stressed she’d love to be able to do more but that it’s difficult with the current circumstances.

“I would love to be able to help them more, but the situation is so tense that, right now, if they leave the house, they will be killed.

“For now, the best thing to do is wait for the situation to calm down. There is a chance that the Taliban will knock on their door and tomorrow they will no longer be with us.”

Credit: GiveMeSport, Associated Press, Twitter.

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Football governing body FIFA has released its latest national team rankings on Friday 20th August 2021.

Twelve African Women’s National Teams are among the top 100 greatest teams in the world football according to FIFA.

African Champions, Super Falcons of Nigeria retained its leadership position as Africa’s top-ranked country ahead of the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon in the second position, ranking 38th and 52nd in the world respectively.

Africa’s sole representative at the just concluded Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Copper Queens of Zambia moved ten places to 94th on the world rankings and occupy the 12th position in Africa.

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World Champions, United States of America (USA) Women’s National Team (USWNT) maintained its top position.

Moving into second place behind the Americans, just 21.53 points adrift, are Sweden, the side who took silver at Tokyo 2020 and beat USA 3-0 in their opening group match. Never have the Scandinavians climbed so high in the Ranking.

Olympic gold medalist, Canada are now sixth (moving up two places) while Germany has dropped a place to third and France two places to fifth, with the Netherlands maintaining their fourth position, as Spain enter top-10 for the first time.

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Korea DPR are back in the world top ten, topping the Asian rankings ahead of Australia, Japan and China.

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The regional soccer body of CONCACAF has revealed details for its new & exciting senior women’s national team competitions taking place from 2021 through 2024.

This new calendar prioritizes providing more official match dates for all CONCACAF region women’s senior national teams and ensuring there is elite competition to showcase the highest level of women’s international football in the Confederation.

The introduction of two major women’s tournaments which are CONCACAF W Championship and CONCACAF W Gold Cup will serve as the regional qualifiers for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup as well as the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

How?

Continue reading “CONCACAF To Launch New Women’s Gold Cup and A Revamped Women’s Championship.”

Imagine Barcelona without Messi!

Since his debut in 2004, Messi has won 34-trophies with FC Barcelona including 4 UEFA Champions League and became the first Barcelona player ever to win 10 La-liga titles.

Whenever Messi curls the ball into the net from a free-kick, it is like a painter applying the final flourish on his masterpiece. This was proven against Liverpool in #UCL semi final at the Nou-camp. Messi commands unparalleled respect from everyone in the stadium when his hat-trick against Real Betis was applauded by opposition fans.

In February 2020, he was awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, thus becoming the first footballer and the first team sport athlete to win the award. Later that year, Messi became the second footballer (and second team-sport athlete) to surpass $1 billion in career earnings.

Since Leo Messi became an undisputed starter for Barcelona, in the 2008-2009 season, the side from the Catalan capital have, incredibly, won more games without him in percentage terms (76%) than with him (72%). And the stats favouring a Messi-less Barcelona don’t stop there: Barça without Messi concede fewer goals (one every 122 minutes) than Barcelona with the Argentinean star (one every 109 goals). That said, Barcelona do score more with Messi, notching a goal every 33 minutes, while it takes them 37 minutes to score without him.

Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu says the club’s transfer activity is an indication they are preparing for life after Lionel Messi.

“I know one day Lionel will say he’s retiring,” Bartomeu told the 5 live Football Daily Podcast. Bartomeu said his retirement was “a while away yet. We have to prepare the club for the future, We are bringing great young players to the team because we need to continue this era of success. That’s our responsibility. My mandate will be finished in two seasons. So I need to leave the club in a great position and tell the new president ‘that’s our legacy’.”

“At the moment we cannot imagine it, but we have to prepare for it,” Bartomeu told Marca. “It will be a very different Barcelona, we have to look for young talent.”

Former Sevilla forward Frederic Kanoute conceded that Messi makes the difference.
“Barca are a great team, but obviously they have a player who always makes a difference,” he told Omnisport. “With or without Messi, Barca are two different teams. If someone doesn’t see this, he doesn’t understand football because he (Messi) is a special player. Having a player like that changes the way you play.”

Sometimes ago, Barca have struggled to perform without Messi. This can explode into crisis considering the fact that the void left by Dani Alves, who left in 2016 is still hurting the club in crucial games. Apart from the overrunning costs, the most talented ones find it hard to adapt to the club’s ‘unique’ style of game.

Real Madrid is an example of what happens when the central figure leaves the team. Post Cristiano Ronaldo, Madrid finished with a trophy-less season after winning the 3 consecutively #UCL. With the return of their winning manager, Zinedine Zidane, Madrid struggled to win the Liga without Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, stats have pointed out that previous instances of Messi being injured, suspended or rested have not led to a slump in team form:

Pete Jenson of the Daily Mail has made exactly that claim noting:
“Statistics actually show that the Catalans can cope without their talisman – Barcelona win 71% of games with Messi playing but a surprising 89% when he’s not in the side. The Treble winners also score more and concede fewer goals without Messi on the pitch, while their average points per game rises from 2.3 to 2.7 when arguably the world’s best player is unavailable. Nonetheless, Messi’s loss does add to the pressure on the depth of Barcelona’s squad.”

These surprising statistics would appear to be explained by the fact that Messi tends to rest (when he does) in games where Barcelona are playing far weaker opposition, such as the early rounds of the Copa del Rey. That said, in 2013-14 and 2015-16, when Messi was out for the longest spells due to injury, rather than being deliberately rested, the team performed decently. In the 13-14 he missed 13 games and Barcelona won 11 and lost two. In 15-16 he was also absent for 13 games, with Barcelona winning 10, drawing 2 and losing just one.

What Jenson fails to articulate is that the metrics he used are based on just 36 games without him and 278 with him.

Statistically, 114 goals in 36 games is better than 726 in 268?

Statistics shows that Messi was involved in 57% of the goals that Barcelona scored in the Champions League (12 goals and 3 assists) that season (2015). Also having an average rating of 8.9 and being the player of the week 5 times.

Here is another stats taken from another report that looked at Barcelona’s record with and without Messi since the start of 2017-18, their first season under Valverde.

Ronald Koeman after losing the Liga to Atletico de Madrid last season believed Barcelona will be messy without Messi.

“He is still the best in the world and has also shown today that it is impossible to play without him. He has scored 30 goals in LaLiga and has given us many points in LaLiga. It’s a question for Leo. For my part and the club, let’s hope he stays with us.

“Because if Leo’s not here, we have a doubt who’s going to score the goals.”