A brilliant goal!

In our ongoing effort here at The Torch to become your one-stop-shop for Afghan sporting news, we bring you word and photos of a tournament so long finished that it has actually ceased to be news, and has passed into the realm of recent history.

That's probably because this particular sporting event didn't make the news - or at least, not the news you and I read at the breakfast table or on the train to work. Instead, it was passed along to me by a fine individual who just happens to collect a government paycheque as an employee of the Department of National Defence. Folks in uniform tend to be aware of all sorts of interesting trivia that the average Canadian is not, I've found.

And with that self-serving preamble out of the way (yet another reason why I blog), let me tell you about the event: a simple football tournament (Oh, all right, "soccer" if you absolutely must use the word). Except that any organized event in Afghanistan isn't simple, especially if it involves travel, especially if it involves recreation, especially if any of the activities occur at night, and especially if it takes place in Kandahar. This event qualified on all fronts:

Two teams from the southern Kandahar province have qualified for the inter-provincial soccer tournament organised in connection with the Independence Day celebrations of the country.

Organisers of the competition told Pajhwok Afghan News that teams from Kabul, Nangarhar, Herat, Ghazni, Balkh, Farah, Helmand and Baghlan provinces would take part in the event.

All matches of the day-night tournament would be played at the city's main playground, said head of the Kandahar Football Federation Muhammad Nabi Niazi.

...

The tournament is being played to mark the 88th Independence Day of the country on August 19. Residents of Kandahar have hailed the tournament and said it was a handy recreational opportunity for them.

Abdul Wali, a dweller of the city which often witnesses suicide attacks and roadside bombing, said it was a pleasant change in their life to watch such recreational activity.

Niazi said two matches would be played on daily basis. The first match would be played in the afternoon while the second in the evening. This will be the first-ever day-night football tournament in Afghanistan.

The tourney began on August 16th, with teams playing for a crowd of about 2,000. By August 19th, when the final was played, the audience had grown to 10,000 spectators and a half-time speech by President Hamid Karzai. Play began at 7:00 p.m. and continued until midnight, and people took advantage of the lit field to continue playing for a few hours after the late game ended. Teams and specators from all districts travelled to Kandahar City, many of them late at night, and no security incidents were reported. The final was broadcast across Afghanistan by the Afghan media - anyone else wondering what it would be like to hear an Afghan announcer yell GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAALLLLL! in that drawn-out way so unique to football announcers worldwide? ISAF was not involved in the event itself, but the KPRT helped prepare the stadium - renovation of the facility, with specific attention to lighting systems and entrance control points - and provided team jerseys and drinks for the participating players.

Pictures, you ask? Why yes, we do in fact have a photo or two for you.




As encouraging as that story is, there's another Afghan football story that warms my heart just as much:

Six years ago in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan football looked like a thing of the past, banned for men and unimaginable for women, who were barred from all outdoor sport.

But with the demise of the Islamic extremists -- who also banned music, dancing and kite-flying -- the sport has made such a spectacular comeback that there are now 17 women's football teams in the war-battered country.

And this week in Islamabad, Afghanistan's women players, participating in the third Pakistan National Women's Championship, sprang a major surprise by reaching the final.

In a major upset Afghanistan beat Baluchistan by 1-0 to gate-crash into the final scheduled for Friday.

Captain Shamila Kohistani scored the lone goal in the 11th minute to stun favourites Baluchistan, who had reached the semi-finals after beating last year's runners-up, the Islamabad team.

"Long Live Afghanistan," jubilant players shouted, waving their national flag while supporters danced over a drum beat.

"Yes, I was very confident to win this match and to reach the final. My team has high morale to win the championship," Kohistani told AFP.

Kohistani is proud and thrilled to be leading her squad on its first trip abroad.

...

...team manager Halima Sanger has high hopes for the development of football in Afghanistan.

"I see a very bright future," Sanger said, adding she envied the facilities available to Pakistani teams.

"If we have similar facilities in Afghanistan, we can become the best women's team in the world," she said. [Babbler's bold]

Hope, folks. We've helped give them hope for a life beyond fighting and dying.

I like to post these stories because of the mundane normalcy of them - because you and I go stand on the sidelines, or drive by local games every day, and think nothing of it. But for ordinary Afghans to pursue recreational activities, and for them to flock to such activities as participants and spectators in the thousands, tells me there's a lot more hope for Afghanistan than the pessimists would have you believe.

Update: More on the women's game, via Tony Prudori in the comments.