AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN EAGER FOR FIRST SOCCER MATCH AFTER 36 YEARS

Islamabad, 12 Shawwal 1434/18 August 2013 (MINA) – The Afghanistan National Football team is going to play it’s first soccer match against the National football team of Pakistan, for the first time in 36 years.

Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) officials on Saturday said they were delighted at the prospect of playing their first match in Afghanistan, and hoped that the match could pave the way for more ties Afghanistan, Khaama Press quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The match is scheduled to be played on Tuesday in capital kabu. “It is very exciting to send our team across the border to Afghanistan,” Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) secretary Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi told AFP.

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Lodhi further added, “This match on August 20 will create history because the last time we played an international (in Afghanistan) was way back in 1977.”

He also added that excitements among the players and people was bubbling up on both sides of the border, and Pakistan is expecting to host the Afghan team next year, as it has been agreed in principal.

In the meantime, Afghanistan Football Federation secretary Sayed Aghazada called the upcoming match between the two nations, a historic and major moment for the sporting history of Afghanistan.

Aghazada further added that the first intenational match reflects a major achievement in sports sector, which returns to normality after years of difficulties.

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He said the Afghan football has achieved considerable improvements in terms of organization and inftrastructure. The ranking of Afghanistan in FIFA is currently at 139, while Pakistan i splaced at 167.

The Afghan football team is expected to participate in the upcoming South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in Nepal which runs from August 31 – September 11. (T/P09/E1).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).