Santos – At the time of the FIFA World Cup, as all eyes are on South Africa, a day of practice at any Brazilian club would usually not draw much attention from the press. However, yesterday afternoon (23th) at King Pelé Training Centre, in the city of Santos, a practice session attracted a dozen reporters and the Santos Football Club men’s team. The reason? The first mixed practice session between the Palestinian Women’s National Team and the “Mermaids from Vila Belmiro,” as the local women’s team is known.
The twenty Palestinian girls running across the Santos field are aged 13 to 25. They are members of a new team, established only two years ago, but have lots of will to grow. They arrived at Santos F.C. through a request from the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations, as previously reported by ANBA. What are they in Brazil for? The “sway and swagger” of the world’s best football, according to Kleiton Lima, who coaches the Santos and Brazilian women’s teams.
“I get the feeling that they are taught the practical aspects, but lack the style that the Brazilians have,” he claims. “Our practice is geared towards teaching the athletes that swagger. The differential of Brazilian football is in the improvisation, the technical resources. Hani (the Palestinian team coach) has been asking me what is it about Brazilian women,” he explains.
Whatever it is about Brazilians, that is exactly what Palestinians want to bring home with them. Natalie Sheheen, aged 15, has been playing football for four years, and claims to love the sport. Her dream is to play the Asian and World cups. “Brazil is the world’s most popular team. They are strong and I want to learn from their experience.” In her country, Natalie is a student and only practices three times a week.
The joy and interaction between the two teams was a sign that despite the language barrier and cultural differences, football and the warm welcome has brought Arabs and Brazilians closer. “Each of us had their own expectations, but football is the same anywhere in the world,” said the Santos team captain, Aline Pellegrino, regarding what the team expected upon learning that they would receive the Palestinian girls. “They have been a good surprise, they are devoted to work. The experience is being great for us as well.”
Speaking of experiences, football aside, the samba has been the great interest of the Brazilian girls, who are also trying to teach the Brazilians belly dancing. Among the players, 13 are Muslim and seven are Christian. Only one of them wears the hijab (headscarf), which greatly attracted the Brazilian press’ curiosity. Does the veil get in the way? “Not at all,” replies calmly Nevin Alkolayb, who used to do running and swimming before she became a football player.
At age 13, Michelini Hadeeh is the youngest player in the Palestinian group. She pledges her love for football and also says that she wants to play the Asian and World cups. “We are practicing and we want to take all of this back to Palestine. We want to teach the other girls how football is played in Brazil,” she claims. When asked about what she thinks about playing a match between Palestinians and Brazilians, she does not hesitate: “I want to win [a match] against a Brazilian team.”
Although it will take lots of practicing before it can happen, they have lots of will, says the technical supervisor at Santos’ Women’s Football Department, Rubens Quintas Junior. “We are bringing them into our daily practice so we can prepare for an official match.” In fact, there will be a match between the Palestinian and Santos girls, but the date has not been set yet.
Murilo Barletta, Santos’ Women’s Football director, also underscores the integration of the Arab girls with his team. “I have noticed that they are more comfortable and relaxed now than on the day that we met. They are kidding around, interacting with our athletes, teaching one another their languages. This is a gratifying exchange of culture and life experience,” he says.
He also tells of the talk that he had with the Palestinian ambassador, Ibrahim Alzeben, last Sunday (20th) during the athletes’ reception. “The ambassador told me: ‘Murilo, for you to get an idea of how important this is for the Palestinian people, this is the first time that a sports delegation from Palestine crosses the Atlantic, be it male or female.’ From that we get a sense of how important this is, and try to live up as best as we can to our responsibility,” he says (watch video below).
The Palestinian coach, Hani Almajdoubah, believes that this exchange is going to bring much more than any particular sports technique. “We have developep relations with Brazilian people. They like us and we like them. We have seen new things that they are practicing, we have established a relationship between our girls and the Brazilians, and we hope to have them over in Palestine to play with us.”
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
