\u201cI felt quite lost,\u201d says the goalkeeper Elaha Safdari. \u201cI didn\u2019t know anyone, but little by little football gave me the strength and power to start again, to start from zero, to build, to keep going and to keep pushing myself forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is four years since a 17-year-old Safdari arrived in England<\/a>, part of the Afghanistan women\u2019s development team evacuated first to Pakistan then to the UK after the US withdrawal of troops and the concession of power to the Taliban.<\/p>\n Nazia Ali, a strong, fast and physical midfielder for the senior Afghanistan<\/a> side who was evacuated to Australia, also as a minor, credits football with saving her life. \u201cFootball is my freedom,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I play it gives me hope.\u201d<\/p>\n Safdari\u2019s and Ali\u2019s paths have taken them to different sides of the world, but football is the constant, the former recently re-signing for Rotherham and the latter playing for Box Hill United in Melbourne while they study.<\/p>\n Ali was five when her father was murdered by the Taliban and 12 when her mother suffered the same fate. Her mum had been supportive of her playing. They shared a dream, imagining her turning out for the national team. Ali hadn\u2019t known what football was until her two older sisters began playing but once she started there was nothing else. After her parents were killed her team were her family and football became her resistance. \u201cI kicked the ball as revenge against the Taliban, who took my parents from me,\u201d she says. \u201cI found my sisterhood and community through football.\u201d<\/p>\n Those exiled communities have dissipated as players have integrated into their new homes, some working, some studying, some playing, all fighting to survive.<\/p>\n Safdari says of coming to England: \u201cI was just a child and I had to grow up overnight. It was quite tough for me leaving everything behind, my family, my parents, my friends, my connections. Then being a new refugee in England wasn\u2019t easy either because I couldn\u2019t speak English, I had no friends and I had no clue about cultures and peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n Afghanistan footballer Nazia Ali (left) was only five when her father was murdered by the Taliban, and lost her mother seven years later. Photograph: James Braund\/Hummel\/Sneaker Freak<\/p>\n The language barrier affected her ability to play. \u201cI went for a few trials with a few clubs,\u201d she says. \u201cOne of them in particular I was really excited about and I think the coaches were quite pleased with my performance. But I couldn\u2019t speak English and I\u2019m a goalkeeper. As a goalkeeper, I need to communicate more than a lot, and I think one of the reasons that they rejected me was because of the language barrier. It was so sad, when you see you have the talent but because of the language difficulties you cannot join the team.\u201d<\/p>\n There has been racism, too. Some overt, some less so. She has not felt competely comfortable at any of the teams she has played with or trialled at. One club she had a trial with this year barely watched her, she says. \u201cI told them I\u2019ve been working hard, sending emails back and forth for three months to just come down for this trial. But they didn\u2019t let me show what I could do. Everywhere I go I feel pressure as a refugee, like I always need to identify myself. I accept that I am a refugee, but I had to leave my country, I had to start again and I just want people to understand what we go through as refugees. I shouldn\u2019t have to tell my story over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n Safdari was dealt a further blow soon after one of her trials two years ago, tearing an anterior cruciate ligament while playing for her college. \u201cI was away from football for more than two years. It\u2019s only been six or seven months since I came back to playing because I was waiting a year for my operation and my recovery took another year. Recently I signed for Rotherham United FC and I\u2019m back to playing. I love playing.\u201d<\/p>\n Training and studying has been hard, though. Before the summer, Safdari would finish school at 4pm and get the train and a bus and then walk for half an hour to get to training at Rotherham, which began at 8pm. She was always a little early and would hide out of the way. Now she is trying her best to make friends in the group.<\/p>\n Elaha Safdari is determined the women and children back in her home country will not be forgotten. Photograph: Girl Power<\/p>\n The picture has been different in Australia, which took in the whole senior side. Ali was able to play with them initially, the team adopted by Melbourne Victory and operating as Melbourne Victory AWNT (Afghanistan Women\u2019s National Team) until 2024.<\/p>\n Then she was hunting for a team and Box Hill welcomed her for a three-day trial before inviting her to join. The catch? It would cost A$3,000-A$4,000 (\u00a31,460-\u00a31,950). \u201cI told them I couldn\u2019t pay it because I was living alone here and I studied,\u201d she says. \u201cThen I told them about my background, my story, and they offered me a scholarship.\u201d<\/p>\n Safdari and Ali are integrated and thriving. Their heroes are recognisable names: Mary Earps, Alexia Putellas and Chloe Kelly. Ali\u2019s sisters have been able to join her. Safdari speaks to her parents every day. However, they are all haunted by their traumas and live with a powerful guilt of being the lucky ones.<\/p>\n \u201cI have these emotions a lot,\u201d Ali says. \u201cWhen I first arrived in Australia I kept having flashbacks. We all felt really sad about our sisters in Afghanistan. It was really difficult when friends would text me and call me begging for help. I was really upset and quite depressed.\u201d<\/p>\n News from the country is also triggering. \u201cIf I see things on the news or social media the memories from Afghanistan come flooding back, in particular the men who killed my parents without me being able to see either of them one final time,\u201d says Ali.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Moving the Goalposts<\/p>\n No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women\u2019s football<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Safdari says: \u201cIt is difficult for me because I\u2019m here, I\u2019m safe, I\u2019m playing football, I\u2019m getting an education, but my mind is over there and I\u2019m thinking about my parents\u2019 and friends\u2019 safety, their situations, what\u2019s going on for them. Sometimes I can\u2019t concentrate on my education or even when I\u2019m stepping on to the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n In recent weeks there has been a lot of joy as the pair reunited with respective teammates at talent identification camps organised by Fifa, including in Australia and England, as part an initiative to form an Afghan women\u2019s refugee team. Stories have been shared, including of their experiences of isolation and racism and their displacement.<\/p>\n Safdari is effusive in her praise for the former England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley, who coached the goalkeepers at the Fifa-run camp in England and gave her a first taste of top-level goalkeeper coaching, as she was self-taught in Afghanistan. The actions Fifa is taking are hugely appreciated by those involved, but the players have a greater end goal.<\/p>\n Afghanistan footballer Nazia Ali (front row, fifth from left) was able to join up with her teammates in Australia after fleeing Afghanistan. Photograph: Hummel\/Sneaker Freak<\/p>\n \u201cIt was full of emotional love and joy, seeing some of my teammates after four years,\u201d says Safdari. \u201cI felt like I was finding pieces of myself again. It has been a wonderful step taken by Fifa, after four years of our hard work, advocacy and campaigning for the right to play as a team for our country. We are grateful for this team but ultimately our focus and our main goal is not a refugee team. We want to play for our national team and represent our country again.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Afghanistan men\u2019s national team can play and represent their country but women cannot. Even our women\u2019s cricket national team is still playing and representing our country, but not Afghans\u2019 women\u2019s national football team. We just want Fifa to be on our side and help us and just let us represent our country once again.\u201d<\/p>\n Ali says: \u201cWe are really grateful to Fifa but our fight doesn\u2019t end till we are representing our country on the world stage and standing for our sisters in Afghanistan that can\u2019t study, let alone take part in sports. We are still fighting for them and that doesn\u2019t end.\u201d<\/p>\n They have three questions for Fifa: what does the future for the refugee team look like beyond their matches scheduled for October? What support will there be for players not selected and will they be able to try out again? And is there any hope of recognition of an official national team, enabling them to truly represent their country again?<\/p>\n Fifa was approached for comment.<\/p>\n Time isn\u2019t on the players\u2019 side and there is no fresh flow of talent coming directly from the country. \u201cFootball has an age,\u201d says Safdari. \u201cTime is flying and we need it to happen as quickly as possible. I\u2019m always thinking about getting older and not being able to play. Even when I was out because of my ACL I was only 18; now I\u2019m 20. Two years is a lot of time to lose. Now my focus is on playing and not wasting a single second.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have so many teammates who are still back in Afghanistan, or in Pakistan or Iran, who are waiting for help. Football is my tool for raising my voice for all of them, my way of fighting and showing the world that we\u2019re capable of doing amazing things.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI felt quite lost,\u201d says the goalkeeper Elaha Safdari. \u201cI didn\u2019t know anyone, but little by little football…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-134708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}