Jordanian coach sets out to bring Malayan Tigress back to world football

KUALA LUMPUR: Soon after Soleen Al-Zoubi took over the Malaysian women’s national team, she made it her mission to make the Tigresses pounce again — and fight their way to world football.  

Al-Zoubi has spent 15 years playing for the Jordanian national team and later managed women’s football for the Jordan Football Association.  

In December 2022, she was appointed head coach of the Malayan Tigress, which she believes have both the potential and talent to make their mark on the international stage.  

“The World Cup is not impossible … The opportunity now is higher to reach the World Cup if we invest more and develop and give more attention to women’s football,” Al-Zoubi told Arab News.  

The Malaysian women’s football team played their first international game at the Asian Women’s Football Championship in 1975, and their performance would fluctuate over the decades. Currently, they stand 89th in the FIFA Women’s World Ranking. 

For the Malaysian women’s team to play the World Cup will take the right strategy, investment, and support from all sides, Al-Zoubi said, including from the government, parents and football clubs.  

“This goal will take years (to achieve) because it is not an easy goal,” she said. “Everyone needs to support this goal. I cannot achieve it on my own. But there is a possibility.”  

Indeed, the possibility for Southeast Asian teams to join the World Cup became evident earlier this year when Vietnam and the Philippines made their debuts at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, a first for players from the region and a feat Al-Zoubi said was unexpected.  

“In women’s football, there is no consistently strong team that no one can compete (against),” she said. “I’ve been around many countries in Asia and