“This World Cup qualification is a credit to all of women’s futsal in Iran and is invaluable for them,” she said. “It is a huge community full of girls and women who love futsal, all across Iran and in provinces far away from the cities, and they play with passion and love. 

“They support us every day and give us strength, and we do what we do for them.”

The 55-year-old added that Iran’s status as traditional powerhouses can be attributed to establishing women’s futsal earlier than most other countries in Asia, starting around 20 years ago, which has since flourished into a network of around 100 teams across three divisions.

“All 32 provinces have their own leagues, and each team is led by experienced female coaches,” she added.

For China PR, while there was heartbreak at the final hurdle, it also marked their best-ever finish - an accomplishment that head coach Hu Jie took heart from as he called on their own community to grow even further.

“Our players displayed courage and fighting spirit against the two-time champions,” the 38-year-old said. “They did not show any fear against such a strong opponent and I am very proud of their performance.”

“We got better with every match and for a young team like ours to be able to do that at such a big tournament is something to be proud of. I feel that they have done their best throughout.

“We have to maintain our passion for futsal from here. There is a strong futsal community that loves the sport and constantly gives their all to help advance the sport; we have to keep progressing so that we can continue to compete among Asia’s elite and hopefully, the global stage.”

Soleimani also paid tribute to her charges for bouncing back from the disappointment of defeat in the last four to Japan and looked ahead to their debut in the Philippines come November.

“Our aim was to defend our title, so we were mentally down after the semi-final defeat,” she said. “What we did was to talk to them and motivate them, including the mental aspect.”

“We knew how China would play and we asked our players to play powerfully and with high pressure; the match was very hard, but we were more experienced and created more opportunities, which led to our victory.

“Our players compete regularly in domestic leagues and we also have frequent training camps, so this is also what we will continue to do to prepare for the World Cup.”