Zohib Islam Amiri recalls the first time he played football in the national stadium in the Afghanistan capital, Kabul. “I remember when I made my debut, as a 14-year-old kid, looking over and thinking: ‘That spot there is where they killed a woman,’ ” he says. “It was the most dangerous of times. It is still difficult to play on that ground when you know that so many people were killed there.”
The “they” Amiri refers to are the Taliban and his is a remarkable story. Now aged 28 Amiri is the captain of the Afghanistan national team and was the first footballer from his war-torn country to earn a transfer, joining the Indian Super League in 2011 where he now plays for Goa FC, coached by former Brazilian star Zico.
Amiri is a symbol of hope, a sign that sport can transcend even the most harrowing of conflicts.
• Fan 'fakes disability' to get pitchside seat
“When I went to play in India it was the biggest achievement ever for an Afghanistan footballer and I inspired so many young kids,” the defender said. “I want to continue to do that for them, otherwise, there is nothing. People are watching the one Afghan boy in the IPL. What would it be like if I was in a European league! It would have an even bigger effect. So that is my challenge, the only challenge I have now got.”
His more immediate challenge, though, is to reclaim his place in the Goa team – where he counts Robert Pires among his former team-mates and where the Brazilian Lucio now plays – after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament tear, in April. His recovery, undertaken at the Isokinetic clinic in London, is complete and Amiri conducted this interview two days before flying back to India.
Amiri’s story begins with memories of his father running a shop in Kabul while he played football in the streets, with a ball made from cloth and wrapped in plastic. “We were allowed to play but we couldn’t wear shorts,” Amiri said. “In Taliban era I was very young but nothing was allowed. So the only entertainment was football in this one stadium and everyone went to watch.
“But what happened at half-time is they would cut off someone’s hand or shoot someone [Taliban punishments were held as formal spectacles]. And then the second half would start. It was very difficult to grow up in such a country of war and we did not have the facility to play football. In that one stadium everything was happening – killing people, cutting their hands, cutting their legs, torturing women.”
His family fled to Pakistan for a year. “I was very young but I remember they [the Taliban] took my dad, took my big brother. They took them for 15 days and we didn’t know where they were but they beat my dad so much. He was black with blood,” Amiri said.
“I don’t know why they took him, was it for money, I don’t know. He never spoke about it afterwards, about what happened. Neither did my brother. But they would just take people and blackmail them in different ways. It’s why we went to Pakistan.”
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Life there was hard, also, and the family returned to Kabul. “It was the most difficult time between eight and 15 years old because for us there was no school, no money, no facilities, no academy, nowhere to play. Just always on the streets. But football was the only sport in Afghanistan. People there are crazy about football and it inspired me. Everyone loves it – men, boys, girls, women. Because we don’t have any activities we went to the stadium.”
Amiri’s talent was spotted, he was picked up by a club called Shoa FC, then a bigger club, Kabul Bank, and an unlikely career as a footballer began – with Amiri earning a transfer to Mumbai FC in India after impressing in a friendly match. “So I became the first player in the history of Afghanistan to have a transfer. No one in Afghanistan knew how to do it. We had a proper federation but no one had experience of a transfer deal so I almost missed out.
“As an Afghan kid I am very proud that I was the first to play in a professional league.”
That pride is even greater for what the Afghan national team achieved in 2013 when they won the SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Championship in Nepal, with Amiri leading the side, beating nations such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka and then India, 2-0, in the final. “If we won the World Cup we would not be as happy, we would not celebrate so much. I remember when we beat Nepal in the semi-finals people in Afghanistan came out in the streets and gave money to poor people, just to pray to win the final.
“When we won the final – nine o’clock at night we won and Afghanistan started celebrating. It’s difficult for Afghan women especially to come out after 6pm, still now. That night not one single person sat at home. For 12 hours they celebrated on the streets. Until nine in the morning. It had never happened before.
“We gave the Afghan people so much happiness and they forgot about the war, they forgot about everything. It was my happiest time.”
Afghanistan remains far from safe. “Things have changed now, people smile. But still no one is safe in Afghanistan because every day there are so many bombs, so many killings, so many kidnappings. Still it is going on. It’s difficult to live.
“During the Taliban time everyone knew what was happening. Now everything seems proper but people don’t have work, we don’t know if you go out what is going to happen. Maybe you go into the street and there’s a bomb blast. It happens so many times.
“It has happened to me. I was on my way to practice and my car was just jumping. Maybe 200 metres in front there had been a bomb blast. I just left my car and ran. You have to run. Maybe you don’t know what is going to happen next because it has happened so many times that maybe there is one bomb blast here, people are running there and there is another there. Like it is a circle to catch them.”
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Football is a beacon of hope. “I’d love to take my country to the highest level in the world and we are working very hard to achieve that. We were very close last year to qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup and we lost in the semi-final of a challenge cup to Palestine.
“We have a good team, a good spirit and good talent. I’ve been lucky in that I have been able to come out and play. We have nothing in Afghanistan, really. No one pays footballers. We don’t have money. But now we have a proper small league – the APL, the Afghanistan Premier League [launched in 2012]. It’s small but it’s fun for people. It’s a start.
“For the first time women are allowed [to go], girls are allowed. So many people go to watch the football games because football is the only thing that brings happiness to the face of Afghanistan people. No other thing does.”
@A-Team @Sher Malang
Afghanistan trailblazer Zohib Islam Amiri making history in the Indian Super League after escaping the Taliban - Telegraph
The “they” Amiri refers to are the Taliban and his is a remarkable story. Now aged 28 Amiri is the captain of the Afghanistan national team and was the first footballer from his war-torn country to earn a transfer, joining the Indian Super League in 2011 where he now plays for Goa FC, coached by former Brazilian star Zico.
Amiri is a symbol of hope, a sign that sport can transcend even the most harrowing of conflicts.
• Fan 'fakes disability' to get pitchside seat
“When I went to play in India it was the biggest achievement ever for an Afghanistan footballer and I inspired so many young kids,” the defender said. “I want to continue to do that for them, otherwise, there is nothing. People are watching the one Afghan boy in the IPL. What would it be like if I was in a European league! It would have an even bigger effect. So that is my challenge, the only challenge I have now got.”
His more immediate challenge, though, is to reclaim his place in the Goa team – where he counts Robert Pires among his former team-mates and where the Brazilian Lucio now plays – after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament tear, in April. His recovery, undertaken at the Isokinetic clinic in London, is complete and Amiri conducted this interview two days before flying back to India.
Amiri’s story begins with memories of his father running a shop in Kabul while he played football in the streets, with a ball made from cloth and wrapped in plastic. “We were allowed to play but we couldn’t wear shorts,” Amiri said. “In Taliban era I was very young but nothing was allowed. So the only entertainment was football in this one stadium and everyone went to watch.
“But what happened at half-time is they would cut off someone’s hand or shoot someone [Taliban punishments were held as formal spectacles]. And then the second half would start. It was very difficult to grow up in such a country of war and we did not have the facility to play football. In that one stadium everything was happening – killing people, cutting their hands, cutting their legs, torturing women.”
His family fled to Pakistan for a year. “I was very young but I remember they [the Taliban] took my dad, took my big brother. They took them for 15 days and we didn’t know where they were but they beat my dad so much. He was black with blood,” Amiri said.
“I don’t know why they took him, was it for money, I don’t know. He never spoke about it afterwards, about what happened. Neither did my brother. But they would just take people and blackmail them in different ways. It’s why we went to Pakistan.”
• Spurs are leaner, fitter and hungrier under Pochettino
Life there was hard, also, and the family returned to Kabul. “It was the most difficult time between eight and 15 years old because for us there was no school, no money, no facilities, no academy, nowhere to play. Just always on the streets. But football was the only sport in Afghanistan. People there are crazy about football and it inspired me. Everyone loves it – men, boys, girls, women. Because we don’t have any activities we went to the stadium.”
Amiri’s talent was spotted, he was picked up by a club called Shoa FC, then a bigger club, Kabul Bank, and an unlikely career as a footballer began – with Amiri earning a transfer to Mumbai FC in India after impressing in a friendly match. “So I became the first player in the history of Afghanistan to have a transfer. No one in Afghanistan knew how to do it. We had a proper federation but no one had experience of a transfer deal so I almost missed out.
“As an Afghan kid I am very proud that I was the first to play in a professional league.”
That pride is even greater for what the Afghan national team achieved in 2013 when they won the SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Championship in Nepal, with Amiri leading the side, beating nations such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka and then India, 2-0, in the final. “If we won the World Cup we would not be as happy, we would not celebrate so much. I remember when we beat Nepal in the semi-finals people in Afghanistan came out in the streets and gave money to poor people, just to pray to win the final.
“When we won the final – nine o’clock at night we won and Afghanistan started celebrating. It’s difficult for Afghan women especially to come out after 6pm, still now. That night not one single person sat at home. For 12 hours they celebrated on the streets. Until nine in the morning. It had never happened before.
“We gave the Afghan people so much happiness and they forgot about the war, they forgot about everything. It was my happiest time.”
Afghanistan remains far from safe. “Things have changed now, people smile. But still no one is safe in Afghanistan because every day there are so many bombs, so many killings, so many kidnappings. Still it is going on. It’s difficult to live.
“During the Taliban time everyone knew what was happening. Now everything seems proper but people don’t have work, we don’t know if you go out what is going to happen. Maybe you go into the street and there’s a bomb blast. It happens so many times.
“It has happened to me. I was on my way to practice and my car was just jumping. Maybe 200 metres in front there had been a bomb blast. I just left my car and ran. You have to run. Maybe you don’t know what is going to happen next because it has happened so many times that maybe there is one bomb blast here, people are running there and there is another there. Like it is a circle to catch them.”
• How will Home Nations fare in France?
Football is a beacon of hope. “I’d love to take my country to the highest level in the world and we are working very hard to achieve that. We were very close last year to qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup and we lost in the semi-final of a challenge cup to Palestine.
“We have a good team, a good spirit and good talent. I’ve been lucky in that I have been able to come out and play. We have nothing in Afghanistan, really. No one pays footballers. We don’t have money. But now we have a proper small league – the APL, the Afghanistan Premier League [launched in 2012]. It’s small but it’s fun for people. It’s a start.
“For the first time women are allowed [to go], girls are allowed. So many people go to watch the football games because football is the only thing that brings happiness to the face of Afghanistan people. No other thing does.”
@A-Team @Sher Malang
Afghanistan trailblazer Zohib Islam Amiri making history in the Indian Super League after escaping the Taliban - Telegraph
