The German trainer Monika Staab is enthusiastic about the development of women’s football in Saudi Arabia.
“What is going on here in women’s football at the moment, I have never seen in my travels,” said the 62-year-old to the newspapers of the “Funke Mediengruppe”: “The Saudis are football enthusiasts.”
Staab has been responsible for the Kingdom’s first women’s national team since November. She even sees the atmosphere in the stadiums on the same level as in Germany. “I was recently at a game for the men’s national team: there was a mood like at BVB or at Schalke,” said the pioneer, who has already coached the national teams from Bahrain and Qatar.
“In the refugee camps I also had a lot to do with girls who were traumatized by wars, who were raped or who were sold for food by their own parents – my mission was to make them forget that for a moment through football,” explained the soccer teacher.
It was “nice to see how football motivates and animates girls and women to fight against discrimination,” emphasized Staab. The first batch of the newly compiled selection is to be played as early as February. “It will be a historic moment for Saudi Arabia,” announced Staab.
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