First Italian women football team in 120 years!

Turin: After 120 years, The 'Old Lady of Turin' has finally opened its doors to an elite women's team, which is shaking up the world of women's football in Italy.

Since September, Rita Guarino's Juventus women have swept aside their rivals with eight wins from as many league games so far, including the last two champions Brescia and Fiorentina.

Now Juve look poised to follow the success of their dominant men's team in Serie A. Italian national women's team coach Milena Bertolini sees the arrival of the new team as a sign that things are changing in a sport that is seen as one of the last men's strongholds in Italy.

"The arrival of Juventus has given a strong impetus to the whole movement," Bertolini said. The national side are also poised to succeed where their men failed, and qualify for their first World Cup since 1999.

"We have spoken more about women's football in the last six months since the arrival of Juventus than in the last ten years." Juventus — winners of a record 33 men's league titles, including the last six, 12 Italian Cups and two Champions League crowns — are used to being first and the club have provided significant funding for their women's team to crush their rivals.

"A girl who supports Juventus now has the possibility to play for the club. A possibility is offered to passions that before risked being stifled." The newly-created team has an international flavour; some, like striker Simona Sodini, played last season for Cuneo, the club from which Juventus purchased their Serie A licence. "We're a team with a lot of girls who have never played together, so it wasn't easy," 35-year-old Sodini told AFP.

Inter Milan next
Unlike their male counterparts with multi-million euro salaries, women players in Italy are considered amateur athletes. "(The salary) is nothing compared with the men's but I can just focus on football for now," said Finnish defender Tuija Hyyrynen.

"They have great ambitions and great facilities," added the 29-year-old, whose career has taken her to the US, Sweden and Denmark. Fiorentina and Juventus are the only big clubs that feature in the 12-team women's Serie A. Inter Milan will follow but other major clubs such as AS Roma, Napoli and AC Milan are still not represented. But the question of the amateur status of players needs to be addressed soon.