The sixth West Asian Football Federation U-17 Girls Championship kicks off on Friday, hosted by the Jordan Football Association from July 17 to 22 at Prince Mohammed Stadium in Zarqa, with the participation of seven teams. Saudi Arabia begins its campaign against its Syrian counterpart in the first group.

Yekaterini Valida, the coach of the Saudi national team, confirmed during the press conference for the tournament that the preparation period was good, noting that the team held two training camps, in addition to working on preparing a new generation of players. She expressed confidence in the team's readiness to compete and contribute to the development of women's football.

The first group includes Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates, while the second group includes Jordan, Bahrain, and Palestine.

Thursday saw the technical meeting and the press conference for the tournament, during which various organizational and technical aspects, administrative and regulatory instructions, and the match mechanism were reviewed, in addition to approving the colors of the teams' kits for all matches.

The kits that the Saudi national team will wear during its matches in the West Asian Championship (West Asian Football Federation)

During the press conference, the coaches of the teams reviewed their teams' preparations and objectives from participating in the tournament.

Houriya Al Tahiri, the coach of the UAE national team, said that the preparations were good, noting that this participation is the first for the team after a long period since the COVID-19 pandemic, expressing her hope to present a distinguished level and benefit from the tournament to gain more experience.

For his part, Joseph Maawad, the coach of the Lebanon national team, confirmed that the preparations were good despite the limited time due to the situation in the country, explaining that the technical staff worked to prepare the team in the best possible way, expressing his hope to present a level worthy of the Lebanese national team.

In turn, Hisham Al-Sharbini, the coach of the Syria national team, explained that the preparations were acceptable despite the circumstances, confirming that the team includes ambitious players, hoping that they will present a tournament worthy of the reputation of Syrian football.

As for Luna Al-Masri, the coach of the Jordan national team, she confirmed that the primary goal is to develop age-group teams to support the senior team, in addition to competing for the tournament title, which has become an important station on the way to qualifying for the Asian Cup finals.

Khalid Al-Harban, the coach of the Bahrain national team, indicated that the preparation period was short due to recent circumstances, but the team continues to work on development, expressing his hope that the tournament will be a successful opportunity for all teams.

Administrators of the Saudi national team during the coordination meeting for the West Asian Championship (West Asian Football Federation)

For his part, Ammar Jlayta, the coach of the Palestine national team, explained that the team focuses on preparing age-group players to gain experience, noting that the preparations faced difficulties due to limited time and the players' academic commitments, in addition to travel difficulties, considering the tournament an important preparatory station before the Asian qualifiers.

The tournament matches open on Friday with the Lebanon vs. UAE match, followed by Syria vs. Saudi Arabia, within the first group competitions.

The matches continue on July 18 with Palestine vs. Jordan, while July 19 will see two matches: UAE vs. Syria and Saudi Arabia vs. Lebanon.

On July 20, Bahrain and Palestine meet, before the group stage concludes on July 21 with the matches Lebanon vs. Syria and Saudi Arabia vs. UAE, while the Jordan vs. Bahrain match will take place on July 22.