11 July 2017•Update: 12 July 2017
By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan
The Afghanistan Under-15 boys football team received a heroes’ welcome Monday following their landmark victory in the Central Asian Football Federation (CAFA) Championship in Tajikistan this past weekend.
Fans hoisted tricolor national flags as they lined up at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul to receive the young stars.
The team was paraded through the streets in a bus flanked by a convoy of cars to the Olympic Stadium in downtown Kabul where the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) held an event to commemorate the win.
Afghanistan managed to edge out a 3-2 victory against a much stronger Uzbekistan opponent in the final match Saturday.
The tournament’s teams from FIFA’s Central Asian zone included Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Iran decided not to participate.
In the final, both sides played aggressive football. The Afghans secured an early lead thanks to Samir Samandari’s goal only 7 minutes into the match. But Uzbekistan was able to level the score before halftime in the 38th minute.
In the second half, a goal by Tamim Mirzada in the 63rd minute gave Afghanistan the lead again.
Coached by veteran footballer Syed Hadi Kazimi, Afghanistan remained dominant in the second half with a third goal by Syed Asghar Hussaini in the 80th minute.
As the Afghans relaxed with a clear margin, Uzbekistan sneaked through to score their second goal two minutes later.
At Olympic Stadium in Kabul, fans and the members of the victorious team circled two jumbo size drum players for the traditional Afghan Attan Danc’.
AFF Vice President Yousuf Kargar told Anadolu Agency the players and management worked tirelessly for the win.
“The team which won the first edition of Central Asian Football Federation (CAFA) Champion was not picked overnight,” he said. “Players in this team emerged from our Under-8 team following years of hard work and dedication.”
Nadir Attay said he and his teammates are proud. “We managed to beat much stronger opponents, even our men’s national team has not been able to beat teams from the countries, but we did it”, he said.
The relative peace in Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban has opened new avenues for growth in all sectors including sports.
Within a few years of embracing cricket, Afghans managed last month to become full members of the International Cricket Council.
The win by the Under-15 team follows the men’s national that lifted the South Asian Football Federation Cup in 2013 and were runners-up in 2015.
