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KABUL (SW): Afghanistan’s humiliating defeat against Jordan in an international football match has invited harsh criticism from the citizens with many demanding termination of the coaches and sacking of foreign-based players.
Jordan defeated Afghanistan 4-1 in an Asian Football Championship (AFC) qualifier on Tuesday. Angry Afghans lashed out at the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) at its official facebook page. They called for sacking of the foreign coaches and foreign-based Afghan players while demanding inclusion of more and more Afghanistan-based players in the team.
Afghanistan now needs to win all three of its qualifying matches to reach to the AFC.
Shaheedullah Azadzoy, one football follower, commented on the AFF page that all funds earmarked for the federation should be diverted to a factory instead. Tamim Amini, another follower of the national team, remarked that the AFF should learn from the Afghanistan Cricket Board’s success, and encourage country-based players rather than giving priority to foreign-based players.
Syed Hidayat, another football fan, has criticized the 79-year-old German coach of the Afghan squad Otto Martin Pfister for being ‘too old’ for the job.
In its Group C for the 2019 Asian Football Championship qualifiers, Afghanistan is joined by Jordan, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Afghanistan had equalized its game against Vietnam and lost to Cambodia prior to the latest defeat against Jordan.
Syed Ali Kazemi, media manager of the AFF, told Salam Watandar that the national team is going through ‘crisis situation’. He, however, stressed things would get better with time. He said a number of players did not show-up for the match against Jordan while Mustafa Hadid got injured that weakened the team. Kazemi said the team has vowed to unite for the forthcoming matches.
Afghanistan would face Cambodia on October 10 for the second round of AFC qualifying matches.
ENDS
