Abu Dhabi: At a time when the UAE men's football team are registering some of their worst results in the Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, the women's team have won the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) women's championship for the second year in a row.
The UAE ladies beat Iran 6-5 in a penalty shootout after the two teams were locked 2-2 at the end of regular time in the final in Abu Dhabi last week.
"It is fantastic to defend the title we won last year." Tilal Al Hashemi, the vice-chairman of the Women's Football Committee, told Gulf News yesterday. "It's the result of hard work on and off the field. It is also good to see the fans who came to support the UAE's players and they really helped win the title."
The country's coach Al Hassan Al Janawi added: "It was a good match. Iran have good players and the match came as the best final to the tournament, in which the teams played a match every 48 hours."
Progress
Fadi Zuraigat, the secretary general of WAFF, was pleased with the organising of the tournament and hinted that it could return to the UAE next year. "It was a well-organised and well-contested competition," he said. "Women's football in the West Asia Zone is progressing rapidly and we hope to compete with the East Zone for honours soon. We at the WAFF are waiting to receive an official application from the UAE to host next year's edition after some of the officials talked to us about their interest."
In Wednesday's final, Fatima Azharani put Iran in the lead in the 34th minute, but the hosts came back strongly after the break and equalised when Umaima Mouawya scored in the 48th minute following a corner from captain Sara Hassanain.
Iran took the lead again when Maryam Rahimi converted a penalty, but the UAE fought back for the second time when Dalila Al Marzougi levelled with a spot-kick only six minutes before the end.
That forced the two teams into a shootout. The UAE scored all six of their efforts before their keeper Khadija Osat saved Iran's sixth spot-kick from Farshita Karimi.
Bahrain finished third after beating Jordan 4-3 on penalties after the two teams played out a goalless draw.
Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Palestine teams also took part in the competition but were eliminated at the group stage. Bahrain won the Fair Play trophy after their players picked up only two bookings in five matches. Rahimi was the tournament's Most Valuable Player, Reem Al Hashemi from Bahrain was the top scorer with 13 goals and her teammate Huda Sultan was the best goalkeeper.
