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KLANG (MALAYSIA): The playful freestyle football moves of a Muslim girl from Malaysia have propelled the spotlight into a country where sport is dominated by men.
Sporting a scarf, Qhouirunnisa's Endang Wahyudi performed clever moves, juggling the ball before balancing it on his soles and later on his forehead. "The scarf is not an obstacle," said the 18-year-old student at AFP in a park in Klang, a town about 40 kilometers southwest of the capital Kuala Lumpur.
"It's normal.In freestyle football, players use all parts of their body to perform often acrobatic tricks with the ball: over 60% of 32 million people in Malaysia are Muslim, hijab and loose clothing according to the Islamic requirements of modesty.
Islam does not prevent women from playing sports, said Qhouirunnisa, the teenager started freestyle football in 2016, learning videos on Youtube.
"With freestyle, you can be free as long as you do not show (your body)," Qhouirunnisa said, adding that she has the full support of her family.
Football is one of the most popular sports in Malaysia, although the national men's team is ranked 171st worldwide in the world. They often watch live games on television long after midnight, encouraging foreign teams in competitions such as the World Cup.
"Freestyle skiing in Malaysia is mostly practiced by men," said Qhouirunnisa, adding that girls in the country are becoming more interested in the sport. She trains four to five days a week, balancing, kicking and juggling the ball for up to three hours each session.
His freestyle tricks have a growing audience: his Instagram account has more than 72,000 followers Qhouirunnisa hopes to meet his idol, a teenager French freestyle star Lisa Zimouche.
"Being a woman is not an obstacle," she said. "You can be active in the sport."
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