Afghan boys high on footie dreams

Barely a month ago, Afghanistan’s national football team made headlines defeating defending champions India 2-0 in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) finals to win the title. That moment of glory and ultimate high has put a spring in the step of each Afghan kid playing in the Under-14 division of Subroto Cup 2013. “It was such a proud moment when we won the championship for the very first time. People came out on the streets to celebrate and the President himself congratulated the players. If we win this tournament, our principal is going to reward us too,” says 13-year-old Rashed Azizi. Rashed is one of the 15 players from Kabul who have come to the capital to play for Afghanistan in the 54th edition of the Subroto Cup. He wants to become an economist when he grows up as his country needs it, he says excitedly. “And I’d want to improve my English and go to America to learn economics because America is great,” he says in a slightly Americanised accent. The history of football in Afghanistan has not gone unaffected by violence and war, but the recovery has been quite remarkable. “Over the last few years, things have improved a lot. We now have our own Afghan Premier League and many youngsters are coming forward to play. In Kabul, all school students play in Under-15 and Under-17 tournaments and football has become something that everybody looks upto,” shares Mohd. Isa Zahid, the coach. Things have surely improved when it comes to football as the second season of Roshan Afghan Premier League is currently on in Kabul in Afghan Football Federation Stadium (also known as Ghazi stadium), where public executions used to take place during the Taliban regime. Though people have come together in support of football over the last few years, there are still security issues looming large as just last year a British soldier was shot dead on the field in Afghanistan while he was playing football. “In India, security is really good and people go to a stadium to play without any worry. But it’s not that safe back home. Just some time back while we were exercising at the ground we heard four explosions one after the other and were really scared. Though things have been improving, our families are reluctant sometimes to letting us play in the stadium,” shares Mohammed Javed, who wants to become an engineer. Air Commodore G. Amar Babu, chairman of organising committee of Subroto Cup, shares that the special invitation to Afghanistan was due to cultural relations with the country. “The Afghan government is trying to promote the sport and we are just helping them. Also, the visiting players are taken on a tour to Agra and Delhi so as to expose them to Indian culture. It’s beneficial for both the countries,” he says.