HONG KONG – Asako Takakura played in the first Women’s World Cup in 1991 and recalls with a hint of disdain how the matches lasted 80 minutes instead of the usual 90.
“At the time football was still thought of as a man’s sport,” Takakura tells AFP, casting her mind back to a tournament in which only 12 teams took part.
Fast forward and the ninth edition of the Women’s World Cup kicks off on Thursday in Australia and New Zealand with 32 teams and global interest at an all-time high.
Takakura has seen that development firsthand. After playing…
