Shortly before applying for the men’s World Cup, Qatar presented a women’s national team in 2009. Their last official meeting was more than eight years ago – but there are still women who, despite all the problems, hope to play in stadiums.
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Sebastian Fischer, Doha
Hajer Saleh was just 15 years old when Qatar’s women’s national team played their last official match on April 19, 2014, beating Bahrain 8-2 at Petra Stadium in Jordan. 300 people watched, it was “windy and dusty” and 25 degrees warm, that’s what it says on the match report sheet of the West Asian Football Association. It wasn’t easy, remembers Hajer Saleh, the opponents were more experienced, she played in central defence, not exactly the most rewarding job in a defeat like this. “But even though we lost, we felt good. We felt that if we could score goals then we could win games in the future.”