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Afghanistan football team wins the country’s first major international championship
Afghanistan’s players celebrate following their victory over India in the SAFF Championship football Cup final match in Kathmandu on September 11, 2013. Afghanistan won the match 2-0
About three weeks before their cricketing brothers clinched qualification for the cricket World Cup in 2015, Afghanistan’s footballers had already done the nation proud.
The Afghans beat the much fancied Indian team 2-0 in the final of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championships in Nepal. India had come into the tournament as two-time defending champions, having won the last two editions, and were chasing a hat-trick of titles. They are also the most successful nation at the event with six trophies to their name.
So it was little surprise that Kabul and many other Afghan cities erupted with joy when news filtered in of their teams profound victory. It also gave the team and the country a semblance of retribution as they had come second to India in the previous edition in 2011.
For many hours after the memorable win, Afghans were seen dancing in the streets with joy, honking cars and firing guns.
It was a poignant moment for a nation where once its football stadiums had been used by the erstwhile Taliban government to stage executions.
Shukria Barakzai, a female Afghan parliamentarian and one of the rare women who went out on the streets to celebrate remarked: “I am proud of the Afghan team — they made the greatest victory in the Afghan history, and I am proud to be Afghan.”
Celebrations went as far as even Kandahar, a city known to be one of the most conservative in Afghanistan.
Spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, Javid Faisal, even tweeted: “I will not post any casualty reports for 24 hours as I am celebrating the Championship of Afghanistan.”
During the Taliban rule between 1996-2001, sports activities were severely restricted and public outpouring and celebrations on the streets were the stuff of dreams.
