By Sports Reporter/Doha
Qatar’s girls suffered a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Palestine in their first ever competitive match in the inaugural AFC U-14 Regional Championships at the Al Arabi Stadium yesterday.
The brilliance of Palestinian striker Rozeen Odeh proved to be the downfall of Qatar as she scored four goals – taking her tally to nine goals from two matches.
Despite the loss, coach Monika Stabb believes this was a promising step on what is going to be a long but prosperous journey for female footballers in the country.
“Everyone knew this was going to be mission impossible. Our aim was not to concede seven goals. We have to say the girls did everything they could. I am so proud of them. Our keeper was injured after a while and she kept going.
“Only two of our players had played in big games. The rest have only just started to play. The concentration started to dip in the second half because they have never played 70 minutes before. I think these girls are pioneers for women’s football in Qatar,” said Stabb adding that the game for girls in this country is like ‘raising a baby’.
“I am very proud of them tonight. The girls are having fun. We have different challenges and I know we have to respect the culture of Qatar. But there are 30 million women in the world playing football and I hope to play a part in helping more women in this country to play,” said Stabb.
Palestine dominated the opening 15 minutes of the first half. They were camped in Qatar’s half as they flooded the penalty box. This freshly assembled squad wasn’t sure how to cope but they were working hard to keep their opponents at bay.
There was nothing they could do when Rozeen Odeh opened the scoring with a great free-kick from distance. It was her sixth goal of the tournament after netting five in Palestine’s previous match with the United Arab Emirates. Qatar had a wonderful chance to equalise after 33 minutes when Hagar Nader Saleh broke clear. She powered into the box, beating two players, but was charged down by keeper Razan al-Qazaha before she was able to shoot.
After keeping the score down to just one goal, Qatar had hoped to snatch a goal early in the first half. Yet after 45 minutes it was Palestine who scored a crucial second. Mai Jobran lofted a lovely pass through for Rozeen who took one touch before poking the ball into the back of the net.
With 54 minutes on the clock, Palestine scored their third goal of the match– and it was another hat-trick for the incredibly talented Rozeen. Ahlam Abueed charged down the left and crossed for Rozeen. She took one touch then lashed the ball into the back of the net.
Three minutes later, Abueed got herself on the score sheet as Palestine started to make their dominance show. Two minutes from the final whistle, Rozeen pounced on to a defensive lapse to score her fourth and Palestine’s fifth goal of the night.
“The Qatar side has good fighting capabilities. They have the potential to be a very good side, they just need confidence.
“We have not forgotten they have only been training for two weeks together. In the future they will be a big team. Today we changed some positions of the players. We travelled 22 hours to get here so today we are feeling a bit tired,” said a jubilant Palestine coach Eyad Flanh.
Jordan rout UAE 10-0
Doha: Jordan went top of Group B last night they put ten goals past United Arab Emirates.
The Jordanian youngsters showed no mercy in front of goal as they took their tally for the entire tournament to 15 goals in two days.
They stormed into the lead early in the game when Jeeda finished off a lovely move with a cool finish into the back of the net. It was the perfect start for the side, who defeated Bahrain 5-0 on Monday. Jordan doubled their lead after 15 minutes when Tasneem curled a great effort past the despairing hands of custodian Dalal al-Hammadi.
Ten minutes before half-time Jordan extended their lead with a goal scored thanks to a huge slice of luck. Jeeda launched a looping free-kick which keeper al-Hammadi could only spill to the feet of Leen. She kept her composure before firing a great shot into the bottom corner.
Jordan looked to have this match all wrapped with their third goal after 32 minutes. The ball was rolled to Nour Zoqash six yards from goal and she hammered it into the open goal.
After the change of ends, Leen lit the match up with an electric run right through the heart of the UAE defence before finding the net with a clinical finish. No sooner had Jordan scored the fifth they scored a sixth when Luna Mazin lofted a brilliant chip over the head of a rooted al-Hammadi.
Leen then hit her second and third within the space of a minute as UAE crumbled further.
It seemed like Palestine could score at will and Leen hit her fourth of the game three minutes from the end. Nour Zoqash rounded off the victory an incredible tenth goal in the injury time. After two back-to-back matches, Jordan will now enjoy a break until tomorrow when they will play Qatar.