Al-Bandari Mubarak expressed her happiness and pride in scoring the first goal in an international football match in the history of the Saudi women’s team, after beating Seychelles 2-0 on Sunday in the Maldives.
“I am very happy to be chosen in the first list of the Saudi women’s national team,” Mubarak told AFP. What made me happy was that I was the first player to score a goal in the history of Al-Akhdar.”
She added, “There are no words that can describe my feelings at that moment, and I extend my thanks to everyone who helped us reach this stage. As players, we will always and forever do our best to represent the Saudi team in the best way and in a manner that suits us.”
Last November, Riyadh announced the launch of the local league with the participation of 16 teams and under the supervision of the “Women’s Football Department” of the Saudi Football Association, just a few years after the ban on women playing the game was lifted.
In a second match on Thursday, the first Saudi team will meet its Maldivian counterpart at the National Stadium in its second international experience in the Maldivian capital, Male.
Al-Bandari Al-Mubarak scored the first goals of the Saudi national team (14) Maryam Al-Tamimi II (49 penalty kick) added.
The Saudi national team has been camping in the Maldives since Thursday under the leadership of German Monica Staab.
These are the first two matches in the records of the Saudi women’s team, in preparation for entering the monthly classification of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) officially.
For her part, the player Tala Al-Ghamdi said, “The date of February 10, 2022 (when she was called up to the national team) will remain a day stuck in my mind and will not be erased from my memory.”
She added, “Being part of this team, and in the starting line-up, is really happy, but this is only the beginning and we will continue to write the history of Saudi women’s football together.”
Sarah Al-Dosari added, “Today, we as players have written our names in the annals of history for Saudi football, and this would not have happened without God, then the support that women’s football in particular, and Saudi women’s sports in general.”
For her part, German Stubb confirmed that the goal of the two matches is to gain experience, “Our goal is for the players to gain the experience necessary to play international matches, in addition to our aim for our official entry into the FIFA classification.”
Regarding the mechanism that she followed to select the players, Stubb added, “Since last September, we have started searching for players through whom we can start the journey of the Saudi national team and compete in its official and international competitions. Through this camp, we seek to create the homogeneity that we are looking for.”
She added, “Organizing the first official Saudi league through the Regions League and then the Kingdom’s Championship played a major role in the selection process, and helped us a lot as a technical staff with the players playing competitive matches, facilitating our role during this camp, and we aspire to have the team fully prepared when participating in the tournament. The first official tournament.
The Stub team includes assistant Saudi coach Dana Rajab, in addition to assistance from Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany and Australia.
“The door of the Saudi team is always open to all, and we are constantly evaluating the players,” said Lamia bin Bahyan, director of the women’s football department in the Saudi Federation.