Al Akhbar newspaper drew attention to the recent victories scored by the Lebanese Women National Teams U-18 and U-15 in less than a month in West Asia. With the beginning of women’s soccer 12 years ago, no one expected Lebanon’s team to reap such achievements beyond the borders, Al Akhbar wrote, saying the game today is heading towards a brighter future. The newspaper went on to say, that the women’s team’s win in 2015 of the Arab Championship, has changed the outlook to female footballers, especially with the expansion of teams and the growing acceptance by parents of their daughters joining this kind of sports. The Asian accomplishment has been an important milestone for seizing more victories. In its analysis, Al Akhbar said that when playing with international teams whose members receive daily training, the Lebanese team realized a disproportion in the level of performance, which inspired girls to train individually in order to compensate the inadequate infrastructure and unavailable public spaces for soccer players to train. On this, the women’s team coach, Wael Gharzeddine, who accompanied the players, said the young women footballers boast a unique footballing perspective, but they need urgent physical training. Similarly, couch Hagop Demerjian, while praising the exceptional performance of the U-15 team, said it could have been better if the fitness preparation program was completed. However, speedy assimilation by the girls of what is required of them, redressed the balance. (Al Akhbar, January 11, 2020)
