President Trump is set to court major tensions on his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia next week, where he's expected to declare that the US will officially recognise the Persian Gulf as either the "Arabian Gulf" or the "Gulf of Arabia."

This move comes as Arab countries have been lobbying for the geographical name change of the waterway that skims Iran's southern coast.

his has prompted Iran to defend the area's centuries-old name.

US officials leaked the plans to change the name of the body of water under strict anonymity due to the political sensitivity of the issue.

Both Donald Trump's White House and the National Security Council have refused to comment on the leak.

The area has been called the Persian Gulf since the 16th century and Iran has historically defended the gulf retaining its name, although in some parts of the Middle East, terms like "Arabian Gulf" or "Gulf of Arabia" are more common.

Calling the shots for Iran is national women’s futsal coach ForouzanSolymani, who brought five mainstays from the past champion squads.

Among those returning in the bid to keep the title in Iranian hands is Sara Shirbeigi, the Asian Women’s Futsal Cup all-time scorer with 14 goals and is bullish on making her presence felt after recovering from an injury.

“I hope we can become champions of Asia for the third consecutive time,” Shirbeigi said. “All our goals and efforts will be focused on this. However, as you know, achieving this is challenging since teams like Japan and Thailand are strong competitors. Nonetheless, we are Iran.”

“Our team still has weaknesses that we worked on during the recent SAT Futsal Championship in Thailand and I hope that by addressing these issues, we can lift the championship trophy for the third time and make our nation proud,” she added.

MATCH TODAY
(Hohhot Sports Center, Hohhot, China)
11 a.m. – Iran vs. Philippines

THE odds will be stacked against the Filipina5 when they take on back-to-back defending champion Iran today in their opening match in Group B, marking the Philippine debut in the AFC Women’s Asian Futsal Cup at the Hohhot Sports Center in Hohhot, China.

The charges of Spanish coach Rafa Rodriguez tangle with the daunting Iranians, who have won all 10 matches in the 2015 and 2018 editions of the competition and are eyeing a grand slam of titles and are ranked No. 9 in the FIFA women’s futsal ratings, at 11 a.m.

This intimidating prospect doesn’t faze Rodriguez, who came in as the head coach at virtually the last minute in January and took a newly revamped PH squad that stunned the field in the qualifiers in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

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