Shabnam Mobarez (; born 27 August 1995) is an

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. , she was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the

Afghanistan women's national football team The Afghanistan women's national football team (Dari: تیم ملی فوتبال زنان افغانستان) was the women's national team of Afghanistan until the fall of Kabul in August 2021. They played under the authority of the Afghanist ...

Early life

Born in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, Afghanistan, to an ethnic Pashtun family, originally from Kapisa, Mobarez emigrated to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

with her family in 2002–2003 due to the

War in Afghanistan (2001–present) War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

. She began playing football with boys in the street without her parents knowing and was later invited to join a professional club, which she did with her parents' support. She played for the Danish City Club.

Playing career

Club

Aalborg

Mobarez plays for Danish club,

Aalborg BK Aalborg Boldspilklub is a Danish sports club based in the city of Aalborg. The club is also known as AaB for short (cf. logo) or Aalborg BK. Through time the club has had branches in cricket, tennis, ice hockey, handball, and basketball, but curr ...

International

Mobarez declined an offer to play for the

Denmark women's national football team The Denmark women's national football team () represents Denmark and Greenland in international Women's association football, women's football. The team is governed by the Danish Football Association (DBU) and competes as a member of UEFA in var ...

and instead chose to represent

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Of the choice, she said, "We are trying to bring something positive to the country. These women are so brave they inspire me to do better and, because I live in a safe country, to work harder for them." She started playing for Afghanistan in 2014 and captained the team from 2016. After starting with the national team as a striker, Mobarez switched to the

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

position. In March 2018, Mobarez was part of a group of players from 20 different countries who played in a match in the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

region of

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

and set a new world record for the lowest altitude match ever played. After the

2021 Taliban offensive The 2021 Taliban offensive was a Offensive (military), military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and allied militants that led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the end of the nearly 20-year War in Afghanistan (200 ...

, Mobarez was one of a number of Afghan women's footballers who were evacuated from Afghanistan to Australia. She has spoken of the "traumatising experience getting out" of a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

Other work

Mobarez coaches women's teams at a refugee camp in Denmark.

References

External links

Profile
at

Pakistan Football Federation The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is the national governing body of association football in Football in Pakistan, Pakistan. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of Association football, football, and affiliated to the A ...

Living people 1995 births Footballers from Kabul Afghan women's footballers 21st-century Afghan sportswomen Afghanistan women's international footballers Afghan emigrants to Denmark Women's association football midfielders {{Afghanistan-women-footy-bio-stub