Katayoun Khosrowyar Brings Iranian Girls into Football

Khosrowyar, whose U-17 and U-19 teams have competed in tournaments in Russia and Italy in recent months, has become a role model to young hopefuls across the country.

"I see so many more girls playing football now than I did 10 years ago," she says. "I'm always scouting. The football infrastructure is still not very strong in Iran, especially outside of Tehran, so I usually go out to parks outside the city to see little girls playing with their fathers or brothers.

"They are immediately exposed to futsal, which has a much stronger infrastructure, but we try to bring them into football and their families are always enthusiastic. Their fathers are usually the ones pushing for it, actually. They say they want their daughters to be the best No 9 or the best No 10. I have to tell them that we have to see what positions they can play first!"

It is a far cry from 2005, and the transformation can also be seen in the male coaches who were initially so skeptical. "Changing mentalities has taken a lot of work, but the same coaches who doubted us are now knocking down the federation's door saying they want to help women's football," Khosrowyar said in an interview with Sky Sports.

"There is still work to do at grassroots level, but it has been an amazing process and it has been a team effort,” she added.

"Women's football in Iran is now being supported even more than it was a couple of years ago and it will continue growing,” Khosrowyar stated.