Futsal is my life, says Iran legend Tavasoli

AFC – HOHHOT, With around 15 seconds left and a 2-1 lead, Islamic Republic of Iran were hanging on in their quarter-final tie against Chinese Taipei on Tuesday evening as Farzaneh Tavasoli saved a shot.

Noticing that her counterpart had pushed up and left the goal unguarded, the goalkeeper took aim and sent a precise goal-kick off the bar and over the line, ensuring defending champions Iran’s passage to the last four of the AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup™ China 2025.

It was Tavasoli’s first ever tournament goal – and one of the very few things that she had not done in a career laden with trophies and accolades.

Indeed, it is almost impossible to write the story of Iranian – and Asian – women’s futsal without the 38-year-old figuring prominently.

“We used to play handball in school,” she told the-AFC.com. “When futsal came to Iran, one of my cousins told me about it and said it would be a major upcoming sport. I didn’t believe it, but I gave it a try and enrolled in a club and started to play.

“I was a player first but one day our goalkeeper was injured and the coach asked me to go in goal, and from that day I became a goalkeeper.”

Since picking up the sport at 13, Tavasoli has experienced remarkable success, winning 14 of the 17 available domestic league titles while playing for 10 different clubs and being named the league’s best goalkeeper on multiple occasions.

It is a similar story at international level for the “Eagle of Asia”, with two AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup™ crowns and four CAFA Women’s Futsal Championship titles and a Women’s Islamic Games 2005 gold medal, along with six nominations for the best women’s goalkeeper award.

A bonafide legend of the sport, Tavasoli is one of five players alongside Fereshteh Karimi, Nasimeh Gholami, Sara Shirbeigi and Tahereh Mehdipour, in the Iran squad at Hohhot who have been involved in all three editions of the Continental showpiece.

And while other contenders may possess more youth, the Iran captain believes that their collective experience is an advantage in the Central Asians’ quest to collect a third straight title.

“I think that in a tough situation, that experience that we have keeps us going on and getting through,” Tavasoli said.

She has also been around long enough to notice that the gap between the top teams and others in the region has narrowed considerably in recent years, pointing to how Chinese Taipei gave them a close run as well as the other results in Hohhot.

“Maybe for the two previous editions, it was just Japan and Thailand who were our main rivals,” Tavasoli said. “But now, all teams are very, very strong and have developed a lot. We know that we have a lot of hard work to do if we want to win.”

For now, Iran remain at the upper echelons of women’s futsal in Asia and Tavasoli is looking forward to accomplishing another feat – qualifying for the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup Philippines 2025.

“I think it is a pity for our generation that the inaugural FIFA World Cup for women’s futsal has come only now, but I am happy that I still have a chance to participate in it, and I am also very happy for the future generations who can play regularly in at the AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup and also the World Cup,” she said.

When asked whether reaching the global stage would be a perfect career swansong, Tavasoli admitted that she would be lost without futsal and instead aims to play on for as long as she can.

“Actually, futsal is my life because when I was very young, maybe six or seven years old, I played football in the streets with my cousins and with boys, and from then on I fell in love with the ball,” she smiled. “And one of my concerns is how to say goodbye, because it’s my life; I cannot even imagine what would happen to me after that.”

Tavasoli does dream of a brighter future for women’s futsal back home and hopes that with one more win at China 2025, which will seal their World Cup berth, the sport can continue to flourish.

“In recent years, I can see that East Asian teams have gotten better and improved faster than West Asian sides and I think it’s because they prepare better now by playing more friendlies and also investing more in women’s football,” she said.

“I hope that if we can win this AFC Asian Cup and go to the World Cup, maybe the vision (future) will be different for women’s football and futsal in Iran, and we can improve more.”