THE mum of new Scotland starlet Islam Feruz last night told of the terror which forced her to flee Somalia with her family.

Thrilled.. Aisha, Kauthar, Ethil, and Rahma are proud Islam

The 14-year-old Celtic youngster has made history as the first asylum-seeker to earn an international call-up under FIFA's new eligibility rules.

Somalia-born wonder-Bhoy Islam will wear the famous dark blue jersey for Scotland's under-17s next month thanks to new laws that allow him to play for the country as he's been educated here for at least five years.

But last night proud Aisha, 39, told how Islam's path to play for Scotland has been far from easy.

The mum-of-four and her young family escaped violence between warlords in their home town Kismayo to claim asylum in the UK in 2001.

They were then targeted by racists in Scotland for being immigrants.

Aisha said: "When we left Somalia there were problems every day. It was intolerable.

"It is sadly a lawless place now and we were always scared. Gangs of militia would turn up armed with weapons and just come into your home and take everything in your house.

Feruz was born in Somalia and came to Glasgow when he was seven-years-old

Celtic's Somali-born forward Islam Feruz has become the first player to be selected for Scotland under the new schooling rule.

The 14-year-old has been called for this month's Uefa Under-17 Championship qualifier with Cyprus at East End Park.

Feruz has lived in Scotland for seven years and is eligible under a new UK ruling, recently ratified by Fifa.

"Scotland is a great country which is now my home and I will be very proud to wear the Scotland jersey," said Feruz.

Fifa gave its approval to an agreement that permits a British passport holder who has been educated for at least five years in one of the Home Nations to play for that country.

MINNEAPOLIS , Minn. - In a pulsating battle for the 2009 USA 10 Mile Championship hosted by the Medtronic TC 10 on Sunday morning, defending 2007 champion Abdi Abdirahman of Tucson, Ariz. finally vanquished gutsy Minnesotan Josh Moen to win his fourth USA title at the distance.

Abdirahman, 32, bettered his own event record of 47:34 with a 46:35 clocking on the challenging Minneapolis to St. Paul course. Moen, a former NCAA Division III star, led the three-time Olympian in the race's final mile, but finished three seconds adrift at 46:38.

Moen's Team USA Minnesota teammates Patrick Smyth and Jason Lehmkuhle finished third and fourth, respectively in 47:09 and 47:16. Pre-race co-favorite Anthony Famiglietti finished seventh in 48:09 and was never a factor in the contest.

The race, which opens with steeply downhill opening miles, followed by a fierce climb to the three-mile mark, was on pace for a sub-46-minute finish through five miles thanks to Abdirahman's aggressive early pacesetting and Moen's combativeness.

Technically, the trophy is supposed to rotate around the continent but fresh reports indicate that the country's long history of political instability has left Fifa and the tour sponsors Coca Cola thinking twice.

FIFA and Coca Cola have yet to officially turn down the request by the interim Somali government to bring the trophy to Mogadishu. If peace suddenly breaks out, they might actually do it.

A Chinese cyclist has been forced to put the brakes on a 12-year world tour, after officials in Somalia deported him for not having the right documents.

Lee Yue Zhong, who says he has visited 114 countries since setting off on his tour in 1997, arrived in the semi-autonomous Puntland region last week.

But he had no visa and Somali police arrested him before deporting him to neighbouring Djibouti.

The cyclist said he was disappointed with the decision.

He said he had travelled from Somaliland to the Puntland capital Garowe, where he was arrested.

"It took me two weeks from Hargeisa to here and it was part of my long trip to tour continents worldwide, but they really disappointed me," the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

Mo Farah has set his sights on a medal at the world championships in Berlin this summer – as well as at the European indoor championships in Turin this weekend – following an impressive indoor season during which the middle-distance runner has twice broken the 3,000m British record. Farah won a silver medal at the outdoor European championships three years ago but will hope to go one better in the indoor 3,000m final on Saturday.

The past couple of years have not been kind to the Somalia-born runner. At the 2007 world championships in Osaka, Farah finished sixth in the 5,000m, and at the Beijing Olympics he failed to make the final. But a hard stint of warm-weather training in Ethiopia and Kenya over the winter alongside some of the best athletes in the world has had an impact.

The representative for the Bianconeri youth team star has revealed that his client expects the club to finally offer him a contract after his exploits at the Viareggio tournament.

Somali striker Ayub Daud was the revelation of the renowned Viareggio Carnival Cup this month, leading Juventus Primavera to their sixth triumph in the competition, crushing Sampdoria 4-1 in the final.

The 19-year-old was the top scorer of the tournament with 8 goals and has reportedly drawn interest from several English and Spanish clubs, but his agent, Ulisse Savini, is confident that Juve will soon tie him down.

“I knew that Ayub could have done well but I was honestly surprised to see him perform so brilliantly,” the representative told Tuttomercatoweb.

“He does not have a contract at the moment, but I am sure that Juve will not miss out on the lad, despite the incredible amount of interest from foreign sides.

“Ayub considers Juve as his family and he wants to become a main player in the [first] team. He expects an offer from the club and hopes to repay their faith on the pitch.”

Daud has been living in the peninsula since the age of 5 but has already played for the Somalia Under-21 national team.

Source: Vince Masiello, Goal.com