"East or West, home is the best" goes the English saying, but the Egyptian women soccer players proved that home is not the only place to assert their talent. They returned holding the title of the second five-a-side Arab Women Soccer Championship for clubs in Amman from January 29 to February 4.

Clubs from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and the Palestinian territories also took part in the eight nations tournament

However, women soccer players of Al Maaden confirmed their status as favorites to win the title with an impressive 2-1 triumph over the host team of Jordan on February 4 that sealed first place in the tournament.

Sarah Hasanain, who was the only Arab woman to be chosen in the FIFA's All Star team, won both of Egypt's league and cup tournaments last season twice ahead after only five minutes into the game.

A low pass across the field found Marwa Ibrahim unmarked about 20 meters from goal. She controlled the ball, pushed it forward with her right foot and unleashed a left-foot drive that flew over the diving Hasanain and scored the second for Al Maaden.

Sahar Al Hawary, head of the Arab Women's Soccer Committee and manager of Al Maaden soccer team immediately exposed her anxiety by screaming at the players to keep attacking, especially with the sudden appearance of the Jordanian prince Hamza Ibn Al Hussein.

There was no change to the pattern in the second half with Jordan pressing forward and Egypt soaking up the pressure in front of an increasingly vocal home crowd.

Then the host team scored their only goal in the game eight minutes before the end to finish the game 2-1 for Al Maaden.

The giant Egyptian goalkeeper Shreen Shalaby, who is grading the Egyptian national team net, did superbly in pushing over a 30-meter drive ball that seemed destined for the roof of the net few seconds to the end of the game.

With the whistle of the referee to declare the end of the game, all the Jordanian and Egyptian fans cheered for the winning team and the great performance by all the Arab women players.

At the closing ceremony, when Sarah Hasanain was stepping down after receiving the tournament's trophy, she was called back. With tears trickling down her face, she was announced the best player of the tournament as well as the best scorer for her seven goals scored in the four played games.

On the other hand, the real surprise of the tournament was Iraq's women soccer players, who were gearing up for their first ever international matches when they took on seven other Arab teams in five-a-side matches at the end of this month.

Dressed in black trousers and wearing shirts emblazoned with the Iraqi flag, a total of eight women were chosen to represent the sanction-hit state in the Amman tournament. The tournament was the team's first international matches since the Iraqi women's football federation was created in 1950.

"The team has had no warm-up matches. It has pit itself against experienced teams. It is not going to be easy," said the team's coach Muhammad Abd Al Sahab.

"As an Iraqi woman, I must tell the world that Iraqi women will not be prisoners of the embargo. The embargo has created a sort of defiance inside me," said team captain Khulud Abdel Karim, who is a student. Iraq has been under UN sanctions since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

"Since the team was formed, women's soccer has begun to win support among the population," said Fatima Al Hashemi, head of the Iraqi women's union.

Most Iraqi provinces have women's football clubs, but there is as yet no national championship. Iraq also fields women's teams in disciplines such as volleyball, basketball, handball, athletics, fencing and some martial arts.

Women in the neighboring conservative Gulf region have only recently begun to play football competitively, but tournaments are generally held behind closed doors and men are banned from the crowd.