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The Conversation

Factual: Life Stories

Two women from different parts of the world share the stories of their lives

Two women from different parts of the world, united by a common passion, experience or expertise, share the stories of their lives.

The Conversation: United by Football: Stephanie Roche and Sahar El Hawary

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16/03/2015

United by Football: Stephanie Roche and Sahar El Hawary

BBC World Service - The Conversation, United by Football: Stephanie Roche and Sahar El Hawary

The Irishwoman who scored one of the best goals of 2014 and a pioneering Egyptian referee

The female footballer who topped Man United and Chelsea stars in the best goal of the year awards talks to an Egyptian woman who brought women's football to her country

Irish striker Stephanie Roche fell in love with football from an early age. She went to matches with her dad and brothers and played on boys' teams before joining girls' sides from the age of 13. Her opponents were surprised to see a girl on the pitch and says she would sometimes get a bit of abuse from players and parents "but nothing too bad". The insults didn't bother her though, she just focussed on her game. Stephanie went on to represent her country, as well as playing for local teams. It was at a minor league match where she scored the goal that would change her life. By chance the spectacular volley was filmed and uploaded to the internet; it was picked up by FIFA and took second place in their best goal of the year competition, beating stars like Manchester United's Robin van Persie and Chelsea's Diego Costa. 

Sahar El Hawary was also inspired by her father. She used to sit on the sidelines and watch him referee matches in her native Egypt. It was unusual to see a girl watching from the benches, but Sahar loved the atmosphere and wanted to be as close as she could to the action. At the time Egypt didn't have a women's football team and Sahar thought this was wrong, so she travelled around the country talent-spotting young players and training them in secret in her family's compound. People said she was, "crazy ... and how can women play football? It's a man's game."  Sahar wouldn't accept 'no' for an answer and now she takes the national team to tournaments across the region. Today women and girls can be seen playing football across Egypt.

Image: Stephanie Roche (credit FAI/Sportsfile) and Sahar El Hawary

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