RIYADH — The Saudi Arabian Football Federation appointed Finn Rosa Lappi Seppala as coach of the women’s national team, to succeed German Monica Stubb, who will serve as a technical director of the Women’s Department.

Rosa has previous experience, as she started her football career with Helsinki team and won eight league championships and five cups in 13 years, before moving to Anderlecht, Belgium.

She then moved to the United States, where she played for Miami Gladiers, before ending her career with AC Milan, where she decided to retire in 2005.

After Rosa’s retirement, she went to training, as she worked with a number of Finnish teams, in addition to her work as a lecturer for training courses accredited by the European Football Association, and she also worked as a coach for the under-23 Finland national team and Honka team in the Finnish Premier League.

In addition to assuming the position of assistant coach of the first Finnish national team, she also obtained the PRO training license from UEFA.

In her new position, Monica Stubb will work on developing the women’s football system by creating a structure for national teams, youth groups and local championships.

During her training period for the national team, which lasted for a year and a half, Stubb supervised the first performance experiences, as she received more than 700 players in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, and led the national team in 7 matches, during which she recorded 4 victories, two draws and one defeat, and achieved the title of the international friendly tournament that was held last month in Dammam.

The member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, who supervises the Women’s Department, Lamia Bin Bahian, confirmed her satisfaction with what Monica achieved with the national team during the founding period of the national teams, noting that she contributed to the development of women’s football.

She said: “We made history together, but we look forward to achieving more successes thanks to the generous support of our wise leadership towards women’s football, and we now aim to provide Monica with the opportunity to expand her position to help us achieve the remarkable growth and full potential of women’s football in the Kingdom”.

Bahian welcomed the Finnish coach Rosa Labbi, considering her presence a great addition to women’s football, and her remarkable presence in the friendly tournament contributed to the speedy completion of the contract, wishing them success in their new mission. — SG