Welcome back Afghanistan

I want to take a moment to talk about our neighboring country, Afghanistan. Iranians and Afghans share many common ethnic and cultural roots.

From early 1980s when Afghanistan was occupied by Soviet forces until the fall of Taliban a couple of years ago, the country’s football scene was non-existent. The one decent football stadium in the country which was build with the help of international aid organizations as often used by Taliban as an execution site.

Afghans, like many of us, have an intense passion for the beautiful game. I remember a few very good Afghan footballers from my college years.

In the last few years I have read sporadic news about football making a comeback in Afghanistan. Let’s all welcome them back into the international football scene and wish them lots of luck in the upcoming AFC Challenge Cup in Bangladesh which is due to kickoff in April 1.