By Sportswriter Zheng Daojin

    DOHA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The score is 0-12, but they are still fighting; the pains on the body are growing, but they are still concentrating; the match against giants is ending and the fiasco is coming, but they are still smiling ...

    The scene is hard to imagine if one doesn't know it's a women's soccer match on Monday night between world powerhouse China and Jordan, the first women's soccer team from the Arabic nations to compete at the Doha Asian Games.

    "We come here and play, which makes all the significance," said Jordan coach Issa Al Turk.

    "I have only two and a half months to coach the team before the Games, and the players have been training for only one year," Issa told Xinhua.

    "You don't know how difficult it is to develop women's soccer in Jordan."

    Jordan didn't play like a normal soccer team on the pitch. The players made a lot of amateurish mistakes and lacked basic sense of position. The goalkeeper never made a goalkick for more than 40 meters. And the Jordan girls were frequently lifted out with a stretcher after blocking a sharp shot or colliding with their physically much stronger rivals.

    But they never stopped challenging and showed respectable courage to defend whole heartedly and try to dribble past their opponents occasionally.

    The most noticeable thing of the Jordan team at first sight is the white Hejabs. Some girls wore the Hejabs during the match and had to readjust the Hejabs after heading the ball.

    Another surprising thing is the team is so young, as most of the players are around 18 years old. The youngest one of the squad is their No. 6 Shahnaz Jebreen at 14, who played for all the 180 minutes in the last two games. And it's the little teenage girl who got the mere chance for the team to make a successful dash into the penalty area after a good counter attack at the last few minutes of the match against China, which made everyone at the Al Gharrafa Stadium applause loudly.

    "I have only two or three minutes to talk to the girls at the halftime break, because they need time to change clothes," added Issa.

    "In Jordan there are only seven clubs with women's soccer team, and the total number of the girls playing soccer in Jordan is between 120-150. To play soccer in Jordan those girls will meet pressure from the family and the tradition. It's not the same as in other countries."

    "After the age of 20 or 22, the girls are likely to get married and then they cannot play soccer. So that's a big problem," said Jordan Olympic Committee media relations officer Farwati Mohammed.

    "The girls are secondary school or university students, and they have to study, unlike professional footballers who can focus on playing football."

    Issa said the girls all come from rich families, and they choose soccer because they love the sport.

    "I love football since early age. My father was a football trainer," said Ala Al Qraini, Jodan's defender at the age of 18, whose idols are Fabio Cannavaro and Roberto Carlos.

    "Certainly we are under some pressure due to the tradition. Butnowadays there are more people encouraging us to play soccer. Of course some people object to us, but I think the percentage is not very big."

    The university student, who majors in pharmacy said she wanted to be a professional player, and to play abroad if there's a chance.

    "I'm very proud to compete at the Asian Games. Although now we are not at the same class with teams like China and Japan, we are starting well. After two years I think we will close the gap with strong teams. I will train very hard."

    Issa said the team has an aim of reaching Beijing Olympic Games 2008. They will play a two-leg match with Hong Kong, China in February, 2007.