Afghans keen on third clash with Pakistan

The third Pakistan-Afghanistan football clash will take place at Karachi’s Peoples Sports Complex on 9 December 2005 when both teams play their second match in Group-A of the South Asia Football Federation Championship being played in Pakistan from 7-17 December. Pakistan has won both its previous two matches against Afghanistan; the last taking place at Dhaka, Bangladesh, when the latter made its debut in the biennial SAFF Championship in January 2003.

“The people of Afghanistan are crazy about football, whether it’s playing, watching or refereeing, but unfortunately, our football had been overshadowed by its political turmoil,” said Afghanistan Football Federation president, Akramudin Karim, quoted by Football Pakistan. "Having been away from soccer fields for 18 years, it was a difficult stage to make a comeback ... [however] ... since the ‘re-birth’ our national team has already registered first victory on 16 March 2003 when we beat Kyrgyzstan 2-1 in Asian Cup qualifier at Kathmandu.”

See also: Afghanistan joins South Asian Championship (30 Sept)