Asia

LUSAKA — After clinching the top scorer award in the Women's Chinese Super League, Zambian footballer Barbra Banda is inspiring girls at home to follow in her footsteps.

The 20-year-old won the Golden Boot of China's top flight after scoring 18 goals in 13 games.

The powerful forward, playing her debut season in China, finished the campaign nine goals ahead of her nearest challenger Temwa Chawinga of Wuhan Jianghan. Having helped her side seal third place in the standings, Banda has been the talk of the league.

Son Heung-min has helped Tottenham past Manchester United to become the most popular foreign club in South Korea with more than 20% of the nation now allied to the North London side, according to Nielsen Fan Insights.

It’s been five years since Real Madrid defender Marcelo showed up at an Alevín A training session (La Fábrica’s U-12 category) and watched on in disbelief as Takuhiro “Pipi” Nakai, then age 11, dribbled in a style that the Brazilian admitted was beyond his level of understanding.  

Pipi showing his qualities to Marcelo . pic.twitter.com/5jaFj8pWP3

HONG KONG — Iranian striker Issa Alekasir has been handed a six-month ban by the Asian Football Confederation for a “discriminatory gesture” just hours before he was due to lead his club Persepolis into the semifinals of the Asian Champions League.

The 30-year-old forward, who has scored four times in the last three games in the competition, received the ban after making a slant-eyed gesture to television cameras after scoring against Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor in the quarterfinals on Wednesday evening.

Al-Hilal — three-time winner of the AFC Champions League and last season’s champion — has withdrawn from this season’s competition after failing to field enough players for a group stage match. The 16-time Saudi Professional League champion has been hammered with cases of Covid-19 and attempted to field a lineup that had three goalkeepers, eight outfield players and no substitutes.

TOKYO — Thirty four years after making his professional debut, Japanese forward Kazuyoshi Miura became the oldest player to appear in a J-League first division match when he led Yokohama FC on Wednesday at the age of 53.

The player known as "King Kazu", who started his career in Brazil in 1986 because Japan did not have a professional league for him to play in, was given the captain's armband, but he could not inspire his team who lost 3-2 to league leaders Kawasaki Frontale.

MUMBAI — When India began lifting its coronavirus lockdown, Meera, a child bride from northwestern India, was focused on just one thing: when she could start playing football again.

In Rajasthan, one of the Indian regions where early marriage persists despite being outlawed more than a decade ago, a girls' soccer initiative is tackling gender inequality, and giving child brides the confidence to fight for their rights.