Tag: Fereshteh Karimi

Fareshteh Karimi , the Queen of Asian Futsal

As Iran celebrated a second consecutive AFC Women’s Futsal Championship final win over Japan, Fereshteh Karimi continued the theme and confirmed herself as a continental great by winning the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award for the second time.

The 29-year-old delivered what could only be described as the perfect tournament in Bangkok, scoring five goals and, remarkably, winning player of the match honours in all five of Iran’s matches.

The scorer of the tournament-deciding goal in Malaysia three years ago, Karimi also left her mark on this year’s decider, playing a major role in Misato’s Komura’s 30th minute own goal, before setting up Sara Shirbeigi to make it 3-0 moments later.

Speaking moments after Iran’s sensational 5-2 win, Karimi spoke of the significance of lifting the trophy for a second time.

“For women’s sport in Iran, the futsal team is the only team that has the ability to be an Asian champion,” she said.

“The national teams in other sports don’t have this ability and that’s why this is so important.

“Iranians are very emotional people, especially our women. This championship is the big opportunity for us to be more famous in the country, and the way we dress is unique and different from the other teams.

“All the people, especially our families, are so happy about this achievement.”

The 29-year-old graciously accepted the award, but said team success was at the forefront of her goals before thanking Iran’s technical staff.

“First of all I was thinking about how I could help the team. I knew that if I could help the team then I could be the MVP of the tournament,” she revealed.

“Before the final our staff analysed Japan for us very well. We had two sessions of analysing them and our plan was to make Japan tired in the first half, then try to score in the second half.

“That was our plan and thankfully it worked. We really need to give our thanks to our staff.”

Iran head coach Shahrzad Mozafar paid tribute to Karimi, saying her dual achievement is evidence of her standing as one of the game’s greats.

“Congratulations to Fereshteh,” she said. “To be the MVP of the tournament for the second time means that she is one of the really great players in Asia and, to me, in the world.”

Iran’s hat-trick hero in the final, Sara Shirbeigi (pictured below) won the award for the tournament’s top scorer. The 26-year-old finished level with teammate Fatemeh Etedadi and Japan’s Anna Amishiro with nine goals, but won the award by virtue of contributing three assists, compared to her competitors’ two.

Karimi thanked her teammates, giving special praise to the goal scoring duo as well as star goalkeeper Farzaneh Tavasoli.

“All the Iranian players are the MVP, and they should all be here beside me accepting this award.

“The top scorers, Sara and Fatemeh have been among the best players in this tournament, as well as our goalkeeper Farzaneh.”

Iran also claimed the Fair Play Award to take a clean sweep of the honours.

AFC WOMEN’S FUTSAL CHAMPIONSHIP 

AWARDS

Most Valuable Player – Fereshteh Karimi (IRN)

Top Goal Scorer – Sara Shirbeigi (IRN) – 9 Goals

Fair Play Award – Islamic Republic of Iran

Tribute to Fereshteh Karimi , the star of Iranian woman Futsal.

Fereshteh Karimi , the girl from Nazi Abad of Tehran is a unique sample of Iranian woman who have excelled under the most awkward of conditions. Born on 6 Feb 1989 , Karimi has just lifted the Inaugral AFC Women’s Futsal Championship 2015 and also picked up the tournament’s Most Valuable Player

Fereshteh Karimi attributed her accolade to the teamwork that Iran displayed while beating Japan in the competition’s final on Saturday. The 26-year-old scored six goals in the campaign but undoubtedly her most important was the one she notched in the final, a strike which proved enough to hand Forouzan Soleimani’s side the title.

[pullquote align=”right”]“I’m very happy that we have become champions and I’d like to dedicate this win to the whole of Iran back home.” [/pullquote]

“I and my teammates played from the depths of our hearts in this game and there was a great challenge from our opponents Japan, so this win is even the more meaningful for us.

“But this award and win are not just because of me, but it was the great team effort that the other players consistently showed that made it possible and I’m thankful for them also for this recognition.”

Fereshteh who plays for Persepolis has played 15 times for Team Melli Women futsal team scoring 9 goals in the process. No doubt that final goal against Japan in the final was her most valuable and memorable. She has been selected as one of the 11 best women futsal players by the famous futsalplanet website.

fereshtehHer undeniable skill has attracted interest from Polish and Russian futsal teams. Fereshteh had to turn down such offer for social reasons, the hijab being the Achilles heel of her possible career in Europe.
Speaking of Hijab, Fereshteh Karimi was playing football with Iran Women National team. She and her teammates were ready to play against Jordan in the 2014 Olympics games qualifiers. However, the team were denied from competing because hijab was deemed unacceptable. Fereshteh and her teammates were so shocked by this act of injustice , she broke down crying while the rest of the team followed. Their plight was so touching , the opponents, the Jordanian women , broke down joined the iranian girls crying.

Fereshteh need not worry much about her hijab anymore as FIFA has permitted the competition with the head covers and the road is open for her and her teammates to bring glory to Iran.

Iran women crowned as AFC Futsal champions.

 Iran were crowned inaugural champions of the AFC Women’s Futsal Championship when they beat Japan 1-0 in a thrilling final on Saturday.

Both teams were quick out of the blocks at the Nilai Indoor Stadium and the first chance of note came in the fourth minute as Iran’s Fereshteh Karimi sprinted down the right and tested Japan goalkeeper Ayaka Yamamoto with a fierce drive.

Barely a minute later, Karimi had another up close and personal encounter with the Japan custodian but yet again her effort was stopped by the impressive Yamamoto’s legs.

However, the breakthrough was to come for Iran on eight minutes as an unmarked Karimi finally made her mark following confusion in the Japan area.

 

The pulsating encounter continued when Mutsumi Sakata fired a rocket of a shot that Farzaneh Tavasoli in the Iran goal did well to palm away.

On 18 minutes Fatemeh Etetadi fouled Sakata whose clever free-kick found skipper Shiori Nakajima but the Japan captain’s shot failed to find a way past Tavasoli in what was to prove the final opportunity of the first half.

Japan regained the initiative six minutes into the second period when Saori Kato connected with a corner only to see her effort saved by Tavasoli.

Kato then had a shot blocked by Etedadi’s body, before, in a breathless finale, Tavasoli reacted superbly to deny Nakajima and ensure her side of the title.

[quote class=”If we did not want him, we would not have signed with him after the World Cup”] AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has congratulated Iran after they claimed the AFC Women’s Futsal Championship title on Saturday.[/quote]

His full message is reproduced below.

“I would like to congratulate Iran for being crowned the first ever AFC Women’s Futsal Champions! As the first winners of the trophy, their name will be written in AFC competition history.

The AFC Women’s Futsal Championship 2015 Malaysia was the first pan-Asian women’s futsal championship and the launch of the new tournament places the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) at the forefront of global women’s futsal development. No other confederation currently has an equivalent competition. The tournament garnered wide interest on the AFC social media channels, with record numbers of hits on the AFC YouTube channel.

I am proud to say that the AFC is playing a leading role in taking women’s futsal forward. Futsal is growing steadily in Asia and as an indoor sport it is particularly suitable to Asia’s demanding climates and urban areas with scarce outdoor space.

The popularity of futsal and beach soccer is growing in Asia, with new players signing up across the continent, from the West, Central, East, North and the South. This positive development is good news also for football as both futsal and beach soccer can develop skilful future footballers for Asia.

Futsal as a high-tempo game, like beach soccer, challenges players to make quick, tactical and often imaginative decisions and this has persuaded many Member Associations to recognise the unique role futsal and beach soccer have in player development.

As the governing body of Asian football, the AFC aims to provide the right platform for the development of futsal and beach soccer for its Member Associations. Both games can help develop Asian football at the grassroots and youth level. They can also bring glory for Asia, as our teams get better and begin to challenge the world’s best for the top global prizes.

Once again, congratulations to Iran for their deserved win!”