Afghanistan football news :)

[Haris]

It is the 2012 Under-16 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Championship.

It includes teams from all over Asia.


The overall 4 best teams from this competition will qualify for the 2013 Fifa U-17 World Cup.

[Haris]

Afghanistan qualified!


So the 16 Qualified nations are as follows:

Afghanistan
Australia
China PR
India
Iran
Iraq
Japan
Kuwait
Laos
North Korea
South Korea
Oman
Syria
Thailand
Uzbekistan
Yemen

[Pakhtunzai]

Mashallah

[Haris]

Afghanistan U16 disqualified from
U16 AFC Final Round Qualifiers

The AFC Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned Afghanistan for fielding an ineligible
player in the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship Group B qualifiers last month. Afghanistan
who achieved 3rd place in Group B, and made it to the tournament proper as the third
best team from West Zone, fielded Zaiuddin Amruddin who failed the MRI test for age
determination.

The committee imposed a 3-0 forfeit of their matches against Kuwait, UAE and Yemen
and a US$1000 each fine on all their five group games for violating Article 25 par. C)
iii) of the AFC U-16 Championship 2012 qualifiers regulations and Article 55 par. 1 and
3 of the AFC Disciplinary Code.

Afghanistan will now be replaced by Saudi Arabia in the 16-nation AFC U-16
Championship as the third best team from West Zone.This news is devastating for the
side who did so well in the qualifiers back in September.


Afghanistan U16 disqualified from U16 AFC FInal Round Qualifiers | Football Afghanistan

[MohannaD]

I think they should do such check ups much earlier , I don't know maybe they have done them earlier but the results took some time ??

[Haris]

It's typical lol. In my old school there was this Afghan who everyone joked was 30 years old and had 2 kids haha.

Really dissapointing though.




We can look to the future atleast.



The draws for the 2011 South Asian Football Federation Cup were held a few days ago.

There are 8 teams in the competition.

Our group is as follows:



It's a good group. Bhutan and Sri Lanka will be easy (we beat Bhutan twice out of the last three matches and Sri Lanka three times out of the last five matches).
We should definitely finish atleast second.


I have high hopes for the team (this is the full national side, not the U-16 team).




These are the fixtures:





It will be held in New Delhi if any of our Indian users are interested in seeing it for themselves.

[Haris]

Result of the Afghanistan/India match was 1-1


We could easily have won the game as we were the stronger team but I guess a draw is good too considering India is apparently the best team in our group.



Next match is against Sri Lanka on the 5th December and after that we have Bhutan on the 7th.

We should definetly win these matches as we are the better team and we have a good record against them.

[Haris]

So after our 3-1 win over Sri Lanka, this is how the table currently stands:



Our next match will be against Bhutan who have already been eliminated.
They lost to Sri Lanka 3-0 and to India 5-0.


India are to play Sri Lanka tommorow, it looks like they'll beat them.
We should definetly beat Bhutan by a comfortable margin.

We look set to advance to the semis with ease.


In the other group, Pakistan & Bangladesh were eliminated meaning that if we come first in our group, we are set to play Nepal, and if we come second then we'll be playing Maldives.

We have a poor record against both teams, but with our recent performances, I would bet on us taking the cup.

[sunni]

grt news i think we won against bhutan 8 :D

[Haris]

Well we should have won but we didn't.
No point in crying over spilt milk, what's done is done.

My cousin was there at the match & apparently there was a really good atmosphere.



^ From the Nepal match.



Anyway, Afghanistan has entered the 2012 Nehru Cup which will be played in mid-August. It will include two teams from Africa, 1 from Europe and a bunch of Asian countries. It should be an excellent opportunity to face different competition and build on our successes in the SAFF cup.


What I don't understand is why Afghanistan failed to even bother entering the U22 AFC Championships. It would have been a great chance for the youth team to develop, especially after it was kicked out of the U16 AFC Championships where we played so well.

[Haris]

It's saddening that no-one updated this thread in my absence.
Oh well, i'm here now. On with the news.


AFC U-14 Championships 2014

Afghanistan qualified finishing second in their group.




Notice Bhutan's -42 goal difference. The coach complained that the players in the other teams were not under 14: http://www.goalnepal.com/news.php?id=13089

I wouldn't be surprised if he's right though. Afghans have a reputation of lying about their age. Just look a few posts back where the Afghan U-16 team was tragically disqualified after performing so well.

Here are some images to see for yourself what the little Bhutanese kids were up against:





<-- lol




Maybe the Bhutan coach is just making excuses and our players are just naturally big. The important thing is that we qualified.


The 16 qualified teams are:

West zone
Iraq (Group A Winner)
Syria (Group A Runner-up)
Yemen (Group B Winner)
Iran (Group D Winner)

Central and South zone
Tajikistan (Group C Winner)
Afghanistan (Group C Runner-up)
Pakistan (Group D Runner-up)
Uzbekistan (Host)

ASEAN zone
Timor-Leste(Group E Winner)
Malaysia (Group E Runner-up)
Thailand (Group F Winner)
Australia (Invited)

East zone
South Korea (Group G Winner)
China PR (Group G Runner-up)
North Korea (Group H Winner)
Japan (Group H Runner-up)


AFC U-16 Championships 2014

Matches to be played in September.

The fixtures are as follows:



All of our opponents will be Arabs. It will be interesting.



AFC U-19 Championships 2014

To be played in November.

Fixtures:





AFC U-22 Championships 2014

Afghanistan did not enter.


AFC Challenge Cup 2014


A more important tournament than those already mentioned as our main national team participates.

We finished top of our group




The qualified nations are:




I think we have a decent chance of winning it, if not, at least getting to the finals since we are stronger than most of the other teams.
Our main competition will be Turkmenistan & Philippines and to a lesser extent, Palestine & Maldives. The others are clearly weaker and not worth mentioning.

I have high hopes for Afghanistan in this tournament.

AFC Asian Cup 2015

Afghanistan did not enter the qualifying draw.

However, should we win the AFC Challenge Cup 2014 that I just menitoned, we will be eligible to qualify for this AFC Asian Cup 2015.

The teams here are generally of a higher calbre and so far include:



Along with the following who automatically qualify:

Australia (because they are the hosts)
Japan (because they won the 2011 AFC Asian Cup)
South Korea (because they were 3rd place in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup)
North Korea (because they won the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup)

The actual qualifiers will be played in January 2015.


It will be a big deal if we manage to play in this tournament.
The winners will earn the right to play in the even more prestigious 2017 Confederations Cup (watched by millions world-wide, infact I was watching the 2013 Confederations cup on TV myself here in the UK not long ago) which will be hosted in Russia. However, Afghanistan winning the AFC Asian CUP is a mere fantasy at the moment. We would do well to even qualify which is what our main goal should be. If we achieve this then I will be very happy (and it is certainly within our grasp).





Anyway, in more immediate news, Afghanistan will be playing a friendly against Pakistan in 10 days time.

I predict we'll win with a score of 2-1 or 3-1.

[Haris]

Anyway, in more immediate news, Afghanistan will be playing a friendly against Pakistan in 10 days time.

I predict we'll win with a score of 2-1 or 3-1.

Historic week showcases Afghan football success




The international friendly between Afghanistan and Pakistan scheduled for
Tuesday, 20 August 2013, in Kabul’s AFF stadium, and the start of the second
edition of the Afghan Premier League (APL) two days later, are set to become
two major milestones in the recent history of Afghan football.

The international match between the Asian neighbours will be the first such
fixture in Afghanistan since 2003, when the host side played Turkmenistan in
the Ghazi stadium.

“The fact that we are hosting our first international game in ten years, and
the first against Pakistan in Kabul since 1977, represents a major highlight for
football in our country," Secretary General of the Afghanistan Football
Federation (AFF), Sayed Aghazada, told FIFA.com. "It shows that after a very
difficult period we are returning to normality. Afghan football has improved in
terms of organisation and infrastructure, and we now believe that football can
play an even bigger role in our country. Of course we expect a sold-out
crowd."


The fact that we are hosting our first international game in ten
years, and the first against Pakistan in Kabul since 1977, represents
a major highlight for football in our country.

-Secretary General of the Afghanistan Football Federation, Sayed Aghazada


“This is a very symbolic game for the whole football community in south Asia
which confirms that our sport can contribute to promote a positive
relationship between neighbour countries,” stated the Secretary General of
the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), Lt. Colonel Ahmad Yar Khan Lodhi.

This historic Afghanistan and Pakistan friendly will be played at the AFF
stadium on the FIFA Goal project funded artificial pitch. Two days later, the
same venue will host the opening of the second edition of the Afghan Premier
League (APL).

League action returns
Eight teams from all over the country, including De Maiwand Atalan from
south-west Afghanistan with players from the violence-prone provinces of
Helmand and Kandahar, plus defending champions Toofan-Harirood, are set to
go head-to-head for the coveted APL trophy. A scouting process implemented
by AFF since April was used to select all players. APL matches will be shown
live on Afghanistan's Tolo TV.

The league plays a critical role in our attempts to further develop football in
Afghanistan, increase its popularity and discover new talents," Ali Askar Lali, a
former Afghan international and APL match commissioner said. "Football is
among those activities that so far have not become direct targets of
violence. However, we will now have improved security, accreditation and
ticketing measures since we are expecting to have a capacity crowd of 6,000
spectators for all games."

“In the first APL season, we witnessed spectators from different backgrounds
and provinces sharing their passion for football in the stadium, which proves
that football can promote the unity of Afghan people from all tribes and
places,” concluded Aghazada.

During the past ten years FIFA has invested USD $1.5million towards two Goal
projects in Kabul: the installation of a football turf pitch at the AFF stadium in
Kabul and the construction of the association’s headquarters.

http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/footballdevelopment/projects/goalprogramme/news/newsid=2152825/index.html?cid=twitter_share

I didn't know that the match was going to be hosted in Afghanistan. That indeed is a milestone.

Be sure to watch it guys. 3 days left.

[Haris]

2013 SAFF Championships

Our Group:




In the other group (Group A) is Nepal, India, Bangladesh & Pakistan.


This year we will finish what we started in 2011 where we were so close to winning against India in the final.



The schedule:



As you can see, the Afghanistan vs Bhutan match will start soon. Will post the live stream in a new thread.

[ډګروال]

Afghanistan 3 Sri lanka 1

Afghanistan won against sri lanka

[Haris]

At the finals.

It is going to be Afghanistan vs India just like last time.