Sport

Afghanistan and India play out goalless draw in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

Published

2 months ago

March 22, 2024

(Last Updated On: March 22, 2024)

The Indian men’s football team was held to a goalless draw by Afghanistan in its Group A match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 AFC qualifiers at the Damac Club Stadium in Abha, Saudi Arabia on Friday.

Courtesy the result, India, 117th in the FIFA Rankings, moved up to the second place in Group A with four points from three matches, leapfrogging Kuwait who have three points. World No. 158 Afghanistan are bottom of the four-team group with one point, Olympics.com reported.

The Indian football team has also now failed to score in its last five outings. Manvir Singh’s winner vs Kuwait on November 16, 2023 is the last time the Indian team managed an international goal.

A feisty midfield battle ensued in the opening exchanges. While Afghanistan looked to use their pace and physicality to assert dominance, India were intent on playing a passing game.

Vikram Partap Singh, who had earned his senior national team debut in January, made the starting XI for the first time in his career and consistently troubled the Afghanistan defence. The forward kept drifting in between the centre and the wing, often switching with Manvir Singh, which caused much confusion in the Afghanistan ranks.

As the match wore on, the Indian midfield slowly began to assert control. Lallianzuala Chhangte, prancing down the left, found an unmarked Manvir with a low cross. The latter, who had drifted inside from the right flank, sent his shot wide.

Despite India’s control over the game, Afghanistan kept creating chances of their own, especially on the counter. Mosawer Ahadi was released down the right flank before cutting in and unleashing a left-footed curler that India custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu caught with both hands.

Manvir had more than one opportunity to score in the first-half itself, first from a corner by Chhangte and then from a cross whipped in by fullback Nikhil Poojary. However, both went begging as the first-half came to a close.

Vikram Pratap, too, missed a few in the second-half.

Twice, he was played in behind the Afghanistan defence. While on the first occasion, the ball was just a yard too far, the 22-year-old managed to wriggle past his marker in the second opportunity, only to make the angle too narrow for himself to take a crack at goal.

Vikram’s last opportunity came just minutes ahead of the hour mark when he managed to get into the six-yard box, unmarked, and connected a header onto a cross by Akash Mishra. The effort went inches wide.

Vikram’s night, however, soon came to an end. A mistimed tackle earned him a booking, and head coach Igor Stimac took the opportunity to replace him with Brandon Fernandes.

Afghanistan kept resorting to the counter-attacks and had arguably their best scoring opportunity of the game in the 62nd minute when Rahmat Akbari’s low cross found Omid Popalzay in the Indian box but Rahul Bheke intervened just in time to shrug the Afghanistan midfielder off the ball.

Stimac made a host of changes with a quarter of an hour left on the clock, bringing on Liston Colaco, Mahesh Naorem, and Deepak Tangri. Colaco found a lot of joy down the right, frequently sending in crosses but the Afghanistan defence managed to deal with them.

Subhasish Bose, who had earlier replaced Mishra, also managed to get a free header inside the Afghanistan box, as he nodded a Colaco corner inches wide of the target.

As the match wore into injury time, Colaco created one last opportunity, sprinting down the right flank. His low cross missed captain Sunil Chhetri but landed at Mahesh’s feet, who tried to create space for a shot but lost possession.

The Afghan men’s football team will again play India in its next match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 AFC qualifiers on March 26 in Guwahati.

Related Topics:#َAfghanistan featured Football India Sport

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Aino Mina delivers 10-2 beating to Maiwand in ACL match

Published

4 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: May 20, 2024)

Aino Mina FC thrashed Maiwand FC 10-2 in the 59th match of the Afghanistan Champions League (ACL) in Kabul on Sunday.

Highest scoring player was Ahmad Nabi Moqadas, who drove the ball into the net five times and was later declared man of the match.

Abdul Majid Khan managed two goals while fellow players Rahman Mohammadi, Aziz Ahmadi and Rashid Nazari each scored a single goal.

In the second match Sunday, Attack Energy thumped Mawj Sahil 4-0. The man of the match of this game was Ahmad Nabi Moqadas

With less than a week left in this year’s league, every goal is critical to the teams.

Twelve teams in total are taking part in the event which kicked off on Saturday, April 20. The event is expected to wrap up on Thursday, May 23.

Monday will see two matches, both to be broadcast live by Ariana Television.

In the first match of the day, Sorkh Poshan Khafi will take on Abu Muslim Farah FC at 1pm.

The next match will see Istiqlal Kabul FC take on Sarsabz Yashlar FC at 3.30pm.

This year’s thrilling event is being jointly hosted by the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF), Ariana Television Network (ATN) and sponsor Victor Energy Drink.

Football fans across the country can tune in daily to Ariana Television to watch their favorite team take to the field.

Sport

Rashid Khan returns home, officially introduced as AWCC’s brand ambassador

Published

2 days ago

May 18, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: May 19, 2024)

Afghanistan’s cricket superstar Rashid Khan was officially introduced Saturday as brand ambassador for Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC).

Rashid landed in Kabul on Saturday after an absence of several years. He returned following an official invitation from AWCC.

For years now, Rashid has followed the international cricket league circuit – playing for big name events including Indian Premier League (IPL), Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL) among others.

In March 2018, during the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, he captained Afghanistan for the first time in an ODI match – becoming the youngest player to captain an international side, at the age of 19 years and 165 days.

Rashid, a right-handed batsman and right-arm legbreak bowler, holds numerous records, including being the youngest player to become the No. 1 bowler in One Day International Rankings.

He also holds the record for the best bowling figures for an associate nation in One Day Internationals (ODIs) and the fastest bowler to complete 100 dismissals in T20 Internationals.

Rashid is a key player for Afghanistan and has contributed significantly to the country’s success in international cricket.

In line with Rashid’s commitment to the game, his resilience and determination to always do his best, AWCC moved to employ him as the company’s brand ambassador.

Aliullah Sarwari, CEO of AWCC, said at a ceremony in Kabul to mark the announcement and Rashid’s return to the country, that the company strives to ensure all citizens have access to high-quality telecommunications and internet services in the farthest and most remote areas of Afghanistan.

Sarwari added that high-quality telecommunication services, new technology, creating employment and access to the internet for all citizens in the farthest parts of the country are among the most important objectives of this company.

He also stated that the appointment of Rashid as brand ambassador for AWCC was made from a commercial and spiritual perspective.

Rashid, meanwhile, said it is the first time that he has been chosen as an ambassador and that he will try to serve the people and the country in the same way that he shines on the cricket field.

“I am happy and proud that I have been selected as a brand ambassador of Afghan Wireless for the first time,” said Rashid.

As a hero to his fellow countrymen, Rashid received a warm welcome on arrival in Kabul and thousands of cricket fans posted messages on social media to welcome him home.

One fan, Mohammad Sharif Noori, said on Facebook: “Thank God that you came. You are the pride of Afghanistan.”

Ishq Yousufzai, another fan, wrote on his social media page: “The pride of the homeland. The champion of Afghanistan.”

Sport

T20 World Cup warm-up match schedule released, Afghanistan to face Oman and Scotland

Published

3 days ago

May 17, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: May 17, 2024)

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has revealed the much-anticipated warm-up match schedule for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. These preparatory games will take place from Monday, May 27 to Saturday, June 1, across various venues in the USA and the West Indies.

Venues and teams

The 16 warm-up matches will be hosted at the following locations:

Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Texas
Broward County Stadium, Florida
Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago
Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago

A total of 17 teams will participate in these matches, including South Africa, which will conduct an intra-squad game on May 29 in Florida. These matches will not carry official T20 international status, allowing teams the flexibility to field all members of their 15-player squads.

Schedule highlights

Unlike previous editions, teams now have the option to play up to two warm-up matches based on their arrival time.

Afghanistan will participate in two warm-up game, set for May 29 against Oman and May 31 against Scotland. Meanwhile, Pakistan and England will not engage in any warm-up fixtures as they will be engaging in a bilateral T20I series, which concludes on May 30.

The Afghanistan national cricket team departed Kabul on Thursday for the UAE to begin their T20 World Cup journey, which will be hosted by the U.S.

Afghanistan Cricket Board said some players participating in the IPL will join the team in the UAE.

It added that those whose IPL matches are still ongoing will join their teammates in the West Indies.

T20 World Cup Warm-up fixtures

Monday, May 27