espite losing 14-0 away to Iran in
a qualifier for the 2022 World
Cup, Cambodia coach Keisuke
Honda took smiling selfies with
female home fans at Tehran’s
Azadi Stadium after the game.
“This is something great and the fans are great,” said
the former Japan star. “And it is an honour to witness it.”
The reason for Honda’s happiness was that he had
been part of a game that had been watched by more
than 3,000 women.
With a handful of minor exceptions, women have
been banned from watching football in Iran since
1981, but here they were, watching their national
team thrash the Cambodians. Every single goal was
celebrated wildly, the songs never stopped andthe fans who had waited so long to see Team Melli
were rewarded at the end as the players approached
their specially constructed section to applaud. Not
surprisingly, the feeling was this is something that
should happen more often.
Less than a week earlier, the Football Federation
Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) had suddenly put
women-only tickets on open sale and they were
snapped up within minutes. The tickets provided entry- helped along by female stewards – to a specially
built section of the stadium, separated from the rest.
Not many more men were present, leaving the arena
which can hold close to 100,000 at around 10 per
cent full.
“We are so happy that, finally, we got the chance
to go to the stadium. It’s an extraordinary feeling,”
home to San Marino, Belgium
equal their biggest ever winning
margin and are the first team to
qualify for the finals. With the first
of his two goals, Romelu Lukaku
becomes the first player to score
50 times for Belgium.
KYRGYZSTAN: Edgar Bernhardt
scores a hat-trick in a World
Cup qualifier as Kyrgyzstan beat
Myanmar 7-0 for their biggest ever
victory in international competition.
Friday October 11
AUSTRALIA: Sydney begin the
defence of their A-League title with
a 3-2 win away to Adelaide United.
EURO 2020: Czech Republic end
England’s 43-match unbeaten run
in World Cup and Euro qualifiers
with a 2-1 win in Prague as 30-
year-old Zdenek Ondrasek comes
on as a sub for his debut and scores
the winner. After 56 successive
qualifying losses in the competition,
Andorra beat Moldova 1-0.
Saturday October 12
EURO 2020: Italy beat Greece
2-0 and qualify for the finals with
three games to spare.
SPAIN: Sergio Ramos makes his
168th appearance and becomes
Spain’s most-capped player as they
draw 1-1 with Norway.
Sunday October 13
AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS:
Gambia, Chad, South Sudan and
Sao Tome advance to the group
stage of qualifying.
EURO 2020: Russia and Poland
reach the finals, beating Cyprus
and North Macedonia respectively.
SCOTLAND: With the first hat-trick
of his career, John McGinn becomes
the first player to score a first-half
treble for Scotland since 1952 as
they beat San Marino 6-0 in a
game that also sees Stuart Findlay
score on his international debut.
Monday October 14
EURO 2020: England’s game
against Bulgaria in Sofia is halted
twice after their players are racially
abused. In line with UEFA protocol,
England have the option to walk off
the pitch but continue to play the
full 90 minutes and win 6-0.
Ukraine beat Portugal 2-1 to
confirm their place in the finals.
SPAIN: The Catalan Football
Federation suspends all games
in the region after nine separatist
leaders are jailed. This does not
include matches in La Liga.
VENEZUELA: Tomas Rincon is only
the third player – after Jose Manuel
Rey (111) and Juan Arango (128)
Female supporters
make history in Tehran
But was invite to watch World Cup qualifier just a gesture?
D
Iran
JOHN DUERDEN