The Afghanistan women’s national team trained together on a field for the first time since August this week. The women on the team were forced to flee their country after the Taliban’s takeover.
Six months later the team is in Australia where A-League club Melbourne Victory is supporting the women. Afghanistan’s national team is expected to play in a senior competition in Victoria this year.
The Associated Press spoke with Fatemah, Afghanistan’s captain, who said the team still playing sends a strong message to the Taliban.
“We wanted to stay together as a team to show that the Taliban can take away our country, but not our right to play the sport we love and will ask for everyone’s support so that we can continue our international careers,” Fatemah said.
A local news station sat in on the group’s first training session back together. These are all the good feels you’ll ever need.
#Exclusive: The Afghanistan women's football team have held their first training session in Melbourne, six months after the Taliban took control of their country | @NatashaExelby pic.twitter.com/Xm12kPKxL8
— 10 News First Melbourne (@10NewsFirstMelb) February 5, 2022