‘You’re insane’: the Australian working with Saudi Arabia’s first women’s national team

Members of the first Saudi Arabia women's national football team at a training session in Riyadh in November 2021. Photograph: Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images

The Maldives do not normally play host to historic football moments. Aside from the occasional regional triumph – historic locally but less so in a broader context, the idyllic and luxurious holiday destination is better known for its turquoise blue waters and overwater lagoons than for anything to do with football.

But at the Galolhu Football Stadium, a haven of green in the otherwise densely built capital of Male, history was made over the past week as the Saudi Arabian women’s national team took its first formative steps into the international arena with a series of friendlies against Seychelles and the Maldives, winning both games 2-0.