Japan hand Palestinians 21-0 drubbing

Women's World Cup winners Japan handed out a harsh lesson to their Palestinian counterparts on Thursday, racing to a 21-0 win in this Hebron suburb. Watched by young fans, draped in Palestinian and Japanese colours, the Asian giants were 10-0 ahead at the interval against a team who wore black leggings beneath their shorts to cover their legs. Women's football in the region is still a relatively new development with a championship organised by the head of the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) Jibril Rajoub only recently. The tournament's first match in the six-team league took place on February 22 in Ramallah. But just like their men's team, the women's game is strictly amateur and lacks finance and infrastructure. Thursday's match was not to everyone's liking with protests taking place. Japan and the Palestinian team will meet again on Saturday in Nablus.