KABUL, Aug 1: The Afghan women’s national soccer team will travel to Pakistan this month for their first ever international match abroad, their coach said on Wednesday.

The squad of 20 players and two female coaches will face neighbouring Pakistan in a friendly.

“This is the first time that Afghan women football players will go abroad for a match,” coach Abdul Saboor Walizada said.

The Taliban, before their ouster in 2001, had banned women not only from sports, but also education and most work outside the home and forced them to wear ‘burqa’ when venturing outdoors.

Afghanistan’s female soccer players wear tracksuits to cover their legs and some wear baseball caps covering their hair. Training sessions are held in Kabul’s sports stadium.

The male-dominated country created a women’s soccer federation in 2004 and now has women taking part in boxing, volleyball, basketball and taekwondo among other sports, Walizada said.

Despite the freedoms, some women, particularly in rural areas, face threats for working outdoors.—Reuters