Early on a suitably idyllic Melbourne morning, 18 Afghan footballers and one referee took to the field at the Darebin International Sports Centre. The group were training under the banner of their nation’s women’s team for the first time since being forced to flee their homeland last August. It was an innocuous session, featuring the warm-ups, drills and team talks replicated at grounds around the world.
But there was a palpable sense of joy on display. Though a few have played games here and there since they were granted asylum, Saturday’s session was the first time the team – which was “built to fight” the Taliban’s ideology – had joined together since they sat on the floor of a crowded plane as it took off from Hamid Karzai airport, fleeing Kabul alongside more than 75 other players, relatives and team officials.
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