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Afghan Beach soccer player, Hazratgul
Baran and his wonderful story
“For Afghanistan to have a better position in the ranking, is enough. This is an
enormous success for me, for you and for our entire country”
Hazratgul Baran has been one of the rising Afghan beach soccer players that
helped Afghanistan national team to rise from a mere ashes to the verge of a
world cup qualification. Hazratgul has recently been signed by a Brazilian
beach soccer team, Sao Paulo, to play in their league in Brazil after his display
in the world cup qualifiers in Qatar a few months ago.
He is the first Afghan beach soccer player to be signed by a foreign team and
one of the very few Asian or the wider world players to play in Brazil’s beach
soccer league considered by many as one of the best leagues in the world.
No wonder why Brazil is ranked very high up in the world beach soccer
rankings and has won most world cups since the inauguration of beach soccer
in 1992.
The success of Hazratgul Baran is incredible and his entire story is quite
fascinating too. Hazratgul loved his soccer since he was 10 or 11 years old
and doing even more so now at his prime years as he turns 25 soon.
He was born to an Afghan family in Iran where his remarkable story begins. He
grew up and played for a local Iranian team known as the “Kaghaz Pars
Khuzestan”, which is also a province considered as the centre of soccer,
hence called by the locals as the little Brazil. Hazratgul had to face many
disappointments in life. One of the worst ones was being taken off a soccer
field due to his nationality.
His local team was crowned the champions of Khuzestan in Iran, three players
were signed by various teams from the highest national league. One of these
players was Hazratgul Baran, who was also the captain of his team too.
However, his dreams of being a soccer player were soon shattered after he
was thrown out of the team during the national league matches because he
was an Afghan.
“During the national league matches, I was thrown out of a soccer pitch
because I was an Afghan. The dream of my family was that I become a good
soccer player. My close Iranian friends were very disheartened as well when
they received this news. Hence, I decided to move to my beloved country for
the very first time as I was born in Iran”
Perhaps, this was blessing in disguise for Hazratgul as he returned to his
beloved Afghanistan at the age of sixteen to rebuild his career and turn his
dreams into a reality. Things moved on slowly, but surely. At the age of
eighteen he was picked for Afghanistan national team. Unfortunately for him,
he had a setback due to appendicitis, which forced him to be out for a year.
“I got appendicitis when the final 23 member Afghan national soccer team was
going to Syria”
During this time, Hazratgul was receiving constant phone calls from Deen
Muhammad Safi, who was the senior advisor for Afghan Olympics then and
currently the consultant, concerning his absence from the training; since he
was selected by Klaus Stärk (from Germany and former Afghan national soccer
manager; 2005-2008) and Ali Askar Lali to play for the national team.
On his return to action, he was helped by the chief of Kabul Bank and even
invited Hazratgul to play for team Khurasan; one of the Kabul Bank guards’
teams, for which he play for around 3 to 4 years. After that, he moved on to
play for Big Bears until very recently. In fact his last match for this team was
against Herat Xl in Kandahar City during the Afghanistan national regional
matches.
Lately in year 2011, Afghanistan soccer association decided to establish the
first ever Afghanistan national beach soccer team and send it to China for the
Olympic 2012 qualifiers with the help of Ruhullah Rastagar), Sayed Ali Reza
Aqazadah Sadat (Sectary general), Aghabar (President of Afghan national
Olympics association), Karamudeen Kareem (President of Afghanistan Soccer
Federation), and the entire Afghan Olympics association. The raw and
amateur Afghan national beach soccer team, which included Hazratgul, was
sent to China to try to qualify for the Olympics 2012. Unfortunately, they
were no match for the professional and experienced national teams
participating in that tournament as Afghanistan turned out to be, expectedly,
the worst team out of them all. As they were the first time participants and
with absolutely no knowledge or experience of the sport, particularly at this
level and with Afghanistan not even having any beach due to its geographical
mountainous location high above the sea level in the world, their chances of
doing well was limited, they tried nevertheless.
“However, we weren’t able to proceed from the initial stages; meaning we
were almost the weakest team in Asia and the entire world and I was present
in these matches. OK, these lost matches were due to the fact that we were
the boys of football as we don’t have beaches and also there are a lot of laws
involved in beach soccer and it takes time to be explained and we didn’t
understand them. Unfortunately, we finished with the worst result of the
tournament”
However, year 2013 was completely different as the team was coached by a
Brazilian with 15 years of experience at both types of the game, soccer as its
widely known and beach soccer too. Though, the troubles were still there due
to lack of facilities in Afghanistan as they entered the world cup qualifiers in
Qatar. Three weeks prior to that, there was 40 cm of snow in Kabul when
they were informed of their participation in the tournament. They tried their
best to prepare for the tournament as they trained on the snow and
impressed their coach which gave them 90 points during the last week prior to
their Qatar tour; indicating to a better and positive qualifiers. From snowy
Kabul to 43 centigrade hot climate of Doha, Qatar, Afghanistan landed a
historic first ever world cup qualifier victory as they beat the hosts, Qatar, 7
3 during their first match of the tournament.
They played well in their remaining matches as well as they lost to Australia in
an entertaining 6-4 loss and winning 3-0 against Saudi Arabia. This meant
that Afghanistan was not the worst team in the Asia like last time round
where the finished last and lost all of their matches comprehensively. On the
contrary, this time Afghanistan was awarded the 10th place in Asia, which is
a remarkable and unbelievable feat and turnaround considering their non
existent homeland facilities and football infrastructures for beach soccer.
Soon after their last game, two Brazilian beach soccer scouts approached
Hazratgul Baran to obtain his contact details and promise him that he would
be playing in Brazil in a few months’ time, which is exactly the case.
“After the Australian game [Afghanistan versus Australia in beach football
World Cup Asian Qualifiers in Qatar] two young Brazilian men [beach soccer
scouts] took my email and phone number and promised me that I would be
playing in Brazil within two months. At the moment this is where I am playing
for one the of Brazilian teams [Sao Paulo] and enjoying and taking the best
out of the intense trainings”
Albeit right from the scratch but with sheer determination, hard work, and of
course with his natural talent, Hazratgul Baran pulled through the thick and
thin to put his past disappointments behind him and move on in the most
outstanding ways. Idolising the Brazilian and former Real Madrid FC star,
Roberto Carlos. Roberto may not be a beach soccer player, but he certainly
inspired Hazratgul to love his game.
“For years, I was in love with the soccer of Roberto Carlos, the left footed
Brazilian who was the left-back of the best soccer team in the world [Real
Madrid]. That’s why I found my way since then; meaning soccer. As I loved
the way Roberto Carlos played, I wanted to be the Roberto Carlos of
Afghanistan”
As quoted above, Hazratgul had been watching and idolising the Brazilian and
former Real Madrid FC super star left-back which is very famous for his left
footed thunderbolt shots, Roberto Carlos. He inspired Hazratgul to be the
Roberto Carlos for Afghanistan national team.
He got his wishes now, playing in Brazil is the best opportunity to make his
dream a reality, make a wonderful career out of it and more importantly to
represent a positive image of our war torn country, Afghanistan, to the entire
world. Hazratgul Baran would love to become the best player in the country
and in Asia one day so that he can help his beloved Afghanistan. The world
must understand that Afghanistan wants peace not war. He stressed out that
we must keep Afghanistan a cherished and blossom land especially through
sports. Finally, his message to dear friends and everyone is that Afghans have
the talent and if given the opportunity we are the best.
“My message is that Afghans have talents. If given the opportunity, we are
the best. We want PEACE and it’s written on the back of our Kits [Afghan
National Beach Soccer Team]. We don’t have sponsor for our national team,
however, the best sponsor for our country is peace. No supporter from any
country could provide anything better for our country than peace”
Afghan Beach soccer player, Hazratgul Baran and his wonderful story - Sports.af
He faced various troubles like being forced off the field in Iran simply because he is Afghan.
The Afghan Beach Football team went from being practically the worst team in the world to almost qualifying for the Beach Football World Cup.
That's amazing. For an Afghan to play for a prestiguous team like Sao Paulo in the home of football where the World Cup will be held next year is a great achievement.
I am more than certain that the state of the sport will improve in Afghanistan, a country that doesn't even have any coastal beaches.
We just need peace to be able to fully tap all the hidden potential present within our Afghans.
Afghan Beach soccer player, Hazratgul
Baran and his wonderful story
“For Afghanistan to have a better position in the ranking, is enough. This is an
enormous success for me, for you and for our entire country”
Hazratgul Baran has been one of the rising Afghan beach soccer players that
helped Afghanistan national team to rise from a mere ashes to the verge of a
world cup qualification. Hazratgul has recently been signed by a Brazilian
beach soccer team, Sao Paulo, to play in their league in Brazil after his display
in the world cup qualifiers in Qatar a few months ago.
He is the first Afghan beach soccer player to be signed by a foreign team and
one of the very few Asian or the wider world players to play in Brazil’s beach
soccer league considered by many as one of the best leagues in the world.
No wonder why Brazil is ranked very high up in the world beach soccer
rankings and has won most world cups since the inauguration of beach soccer
in 1992.
The success of Hazratgul Baran is incredible and his entire story is quite
fascinating too. Hazratgul loved his soccer since he was 10 or 11 years old
and doing even more so now at his prime years as he turns 25 soon.
He was born to an Afghan family in Iran where his remarkable story begins. He
grew up and played for a local Iranian team known as the “Kaghaz Pars
Khuzestan”, which is also a province considered as the centre of soccer,
hence called by the locals as the little Brazil. Hazratgul had to face many
disappointments in life. One of the worst ones was being taken off a soccer
field due to his nationality.
His local team was crowned the champions of Khuzestan in Iran, three players
were signed by various teams from the highest national league. One of these
players was Hazratgul Baran, who was also the captain of his team too.
However, his dreams of being a soccer player were soon shattered after he
was thrown out of the team during the national league matches because he
was an Afghan.
“During the national league matches, I was thrown out of a soccer pitch
because I was an Afghan. The dream of my family was that I become a good
soccer player. My close Iranian friends were very disheartened as well when
they received this news. Hence, I decided to move to my beloved country for
the very first time as I was born in Iran”
Perhaps, this was blessing in disguise for Hazratgul as he returned to his
beloved Afghanistan at the age of sixteen to rebuild his career and turn his
dreams into a reality. Things moved on slowly, but surely. At the age of
eighteen he was picked for Afghanistan national team. Unfortunately for him,
he had a setback due to appendicitis, which forced him to be out for a year.
“I got appendicitis when the final 23 member Afghan national soccer team was
going to Syria”
During this time, Hazratgul was receiving constant phone calls from Deen
Muhammad Safi, who was the senior advisor for Afghan Olympics then and
currently the consultant, concerning his absence from the training; since he
was selected by Klaus Stärk (from Germany and former Afghan national soccer
manager; 2005-2008) and Ali Askar Lali to play for the national team.
On his return to action, he was helped by the chief of Kabul Bank and even
invited Hazratgul to play for team Khurasan; one of the Kabul Bank guards’
teams, for which he play for around 3 to 4 years. After that, he moved on to
play for Big Bears until very recently. In fact his last match for this team was
against Herat Xl in Kandahar City during the Afghanistan national regional
matches.
Lately in year 2011, Afghanistan soccer association decided to establish the
first ever Afghanistan national beach soccer team and send it to China for the
Olympic 2012 qualifiers with the help of Ruhullah Rastagar), Sayed Ali Reza
Aqazadah Sadat (Sectary general), Aghabar (President of Afghan national
Olympics association), Karamudeen Kareem (President of Afghanistan Soccer
Federation), and the entire Afghan Olympics association. The raw and
amateur Afghan national beach soccer team, which included Hazratgul, was
sent to China to try to qualify for the Olympics 2012. Unfortunately, they
were no match for the professional and experienced national teams
participating in that tournament as Afghanistan turned out to be, expectedly,
the worst team out of them all. As they were the first time participants and
with absolutely no knowledge or experience of the sport, particularly at this
level and with Afghanistan not even having any beach due to its geographical
mountainous location high above the sea level in the world, their chances of
doing well was limited, they tried nevertheless.
“However, we weren’t able to proceed from the initial stages; meaning we
were almost the weakest team in Asia and the entire world and I was present
in these matches. OK, these lost matches were due to the fact that we were
the boys of football as we don’t have beaches and also there are a lot of laws
involved in beach soccer and it takes time to be explained and we didn’t
understand them. Unfortunately, we finished with the worst result of the
tournament”
However, year 2013 was completely different as the team was coached by a
Brazilian with 15 years of experience at both types of the game, soccer as its
widely known and beach soccer too. Though, the troubles were still there due
to lack of facilities in Afghanistan as they entered the world cup qualifiers in
Qatar. Three weeks prior to that, there was 40 cm of snow in Kabul when
they were informed of their participation in the tournament. They tried their
best to prepare for the tournament as they trained on the snow and
impressed their coach which gave them 90 points during the last week prior to
their Qatar tour; indicating to a better and positive qualifiers. From snowy
Kabul to 43 centigrade hot climate of Doha, Qatar, Afghanistan landed a
historic first ever world cup qualifier victory as they beat the hosts, Qatar, 7
3 during their first match of the tournament.
They played well in their remaining matches as well as they lost to Australia in
an entertaining 6-4 loss and winning 3-0 against Saudi Arabia. This meant
that Afghanistan was not the worst team in the Asia like last time round
where the finished last and lost all of their matches comprehensively. On the
contrary, this time Afghanistan was awarded the 10th place in Asia, which is
a remarkable and unbelievable feat and turnaround considering their non
existent homeland facilities and football infrastructures for beach soccer.
Soon after their last game, two Brazilian beach soccer scouts approached
Hazratgul Baran to obtain his contact details and promise him that he would
be playing in Brazil in a few months’ time, which is exactly the case.
“After the Australian game [Afghanistan versus Australia in beach football
World Cup Asian Qualifiers in Qatar] two young Brazilian men [beach soccer
scouts] took my email and phone number and promised me that I would be
playing in Brazil within two months. At the moment this is where I am playing
for one the of Brazilian teams [Sao Paulo] and enjoying and taking the best
out of the intense trainings”
Albeit right from the scratch but with sheer determination, hard work, and of
course with his natural talent, Hazratgul Baran pulled through the thick and
thin to put his past disappointments behind him and move on in the most
outstanding ways. Idolising the Brazilian and former Real Madrid FC star,
Roberto Carlos. Roberto may not be a beach soccer player, but he certainly
inspired Hazratgul to love his game.
“For years, I was in love with the soccer of Roberto Carlos, the left footed
Brazilian who was the left-back of the best soccer team in the world [Real
Madrid]. That’s why I found my way since then; meaning soccer. As I loved
the way Roberto Carlos played, I wanted to be the Roberto Carlos of
Afghanistan”
As quoted above, Hazratgul had been watching and idolising the Brazilian and
former Real Madrid FC super star left-back which is very famous for his left
footed thunderbolt shots, Roberto Carlos. He inspired Hazratgul to be the
Roberto Carlos for Afghanistan national team.
He got his wishes now, playing in Brazil is the best opportunity to make his
dream a reality, make a wonderful career out of it and more importantly to
represent a positive image of our war torn country, Afghanistan, to the entire
world. Hazratgul Baran would love to become the best player in the country
and in Asia one day so that he can help his beloved Afghanistan. The world
must understand that Afghanistan wants peace not war. He stressed out that
we must keep Afghanistan a cherished and blossom land especially through
sports. Finally, his message to dear friends and everyone is that Afghans have
the talent and if given the opportunity we are the best.
“My message is that Afghans have talents. If given the opportunity, we are
the best. We want PEACE and it’s written on the back of our Kits [Afghan
National Beach Soccer Team]. We don’t have sponsor for our national team,
however, the best sponsor for our country is peace. No supporter from any
country could provide anything better for our country than peace”
Afghan Beach soccer player, Hazratgul Baran and his wonderful story - Sports.af
He faced various troubles like being forced off the field in Iran simply because he is Afghan.
The Afghan Beach Football team went from being practically the worst team in the world to almost qualifying for the Beach Football World Cup.
That's amazing. For an Afghan to play for a prestiguous team like Sao Paulo in the home of football where the World Cup will be held next year is a great achievement.
I am more than certain that the state of the sport will improve in Afghanistan, a country that doesn't even have any coastal beaches.
We just need peace to be able to fully tap all the hidden potential present within our Afghans.
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