Afghans look to heal ‘wounds’ with title

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “This is for Afghanistan,” says coach Peter Segrt as he and captain Faysal Shayesteh pose next to the trophy for the shutterbugs.

“We won’t touch it (the trophy) today. We have to deserve it tomorrow,” he adds, before obliging the requests to get closer.

Since the day they landed on Indian soil, the message from the team has been the same. They want to win it for the people of Afghanistan and soothe the scars that have been inflicted by three decades of strife in the country.

While the mood in the camp has been ecstatic thanks to their convincing wins so far, back home people are eagerly waiting for them to return with the trophy their matches have been watched by millions at home. “We hope it will be a carnival atmosphere dur ing the final,” says one of them.

“We can’t heal their wounds but we can give them some joy by winning this,” says Segrt.

Including skipper Shayesteh 15 from the squad are based in Europe as their families managed to escape the country. But they fee the pain of those who could not leave the strife-torn homeland.

When they beat India to lift the trophy in 2013, people poured into the streets of Kabu to celebrate the victory and then President Hamid Karza rewarded them with cash and free flats. One can expect similar scenes if they defend the title in their last appearance in SAFF as they will be shifting to the newly-formed Centra Asian Football Association to