PESHAWAR: The Afghan girls national soccer team has reached Portugal weeks after evacuation from Afghanistan.
The players and their families were evacuated from Afghanistan through a charter plane by the United States. Football captain Farkhunda told the Associated Press that she had left her home and everything behind. Since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the 14- to 16-year-old girls and their families have feared for their lives under the Taliban rule. Though they have not yet announced complete ban on women participation in sports.
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These Afghan girls who play professional football have their own dreams – One wants to be a doctor, the other wants to be a film producer, another girl is dreaming of becoming an engineer. Some of the girls, who spoke to the AP through a translator, said that they want to continue playing football and wants to meet football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United forward and local players from Portugal.
Vada Zmarai, goalkeeper and coach of Afghan girls national soccer team, who moved to Sweden after the Taliban came to power in 1996, said the girls were “very excited” after leaving Afghanistan.
Some of the Afghan women’s football team has arrived in Pakistan through Torkham border crossing last Wednesday. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Wednesday morning also confirmed on Twitter, saying that players of the Afghan women’s football team were in possession of valid Afghan passport and Pakistani visa. Noman Nadeem of the Pakistan Football Federation welcomed the team at the Torkham border.
Officials said that Pakistan has issued visas to 150 Afghan female athletes and their families, but so far 80 athletes and their families have arrived in Pakistan. The Punjab Sports Ministry said in a statement that Afghan women athletes were being transported to the United States with the help of an international organisation and would only be in Lahore for a few days.