Yet the players, some competing in headscarves and extra long shorts for modesty, shrug off their setbacks. They say they love the sense of strength and confidence they get from the game, as well as the rush of claiming a once forbidden place in a society largely run by men.

"Here in the Arab world, we always say boys are better, men are better," said Samar al-Araj, one of the soccer pioneers in the West Bank and the fitness trainer of the national team. "When they (the women) play football, they feel like they have the same level with the boys."

The women have big dreams like turning pro or going into coaching - all uncharted territory for Palestinian women. But for role models, they still look to men, like France's Zinedine Zidane or the players of Real Madrid, because women's games are not shown on TV here.

In the Arab world, soccer is still in the early stages of development, said Tatjana Haenni, in charge of the women's soccer at FIFA, the sports' governing body. The first women's team in the region was formed a decade ago in Egypt, and women's soccer remains relegated to the fringes of Mideast sports. No Arab team has qualified for the women's World Cup in 2007.