APL

Oqaban Hindukosh and Toofan Harirod competed for 3rd Place and 250,000 Afghani today at Kabul’s AFF Stadium.  Both teams suffered antagonizing defeats in the semifinals.  Toofan Harirod led Shaheen Asmayee 2-0 after the first leg, but conceded three goals in the second leg and lost 3-2 on aggregate.  Likewise, Oqaban Hindukosh won their first leg 2-1, but unluckily gave up a penalty kick in the 119th minute of play that handed Simorgh Alborz a 4-3 victory on aggregate goals.

In today’s game, there were only three shots on goal during the first half, all of them falling to Toofan Harirod.  Ghulam Reza Yaqoobi (#17) blasted a shot off the crossbar in the 17th minute, while teammate SalimNaimi (#19) had a header in the 24th minute that Oqaban Hindukosh goalkeeper Ali JabeerLaly (#1) saved without difficulty.  In the 27th minute, however, ToofanHarirod captain Rafi Barakzai (#7) received a cross on the weak side of the defense.  He brought the ball down and then lined up a drive that beat Laly to his near post and hit the back of the net.

On the other end of the field, Toofan Harirod’s defense looked like they had recovered from their collapse in second semifinal leg.  In the first half today, the defense stamped out all of Oqaban Hindukosh’s attacks.  Toofan Harirod led 1-0 at halftime.

The second half went even better for ToofanHarirod.  Oqaban Hindukosh did manage one dangerous chance when forward Kazem Hashimi (#15) created space for himself in the 84th minute and struck a shot off the left post.  But that was all that the Toofan Harirod defense allowed.

In the attack, Toofan Harirod was lethal.  In the 61st minute, forward Hamid Karimi (#11) took a cross and headed it easily past a flailing Laly.  Fifteen minutes later, a Toofan Harirod player got behind the defense and hit a shot off the crossbar from close range.  Maroof Mohammadi (#14) was there to finish the rebound.  And in the 87th minute, just for good measure, Mohammadi fed a perfect cross from the left flank to Karimi, who scored with a diving header. 

It looked like a walk in the park for Toofan Harirod, who went on to win 4-0.  What makes the victory more impressive is that it occurred against a usually strong and tenacious Oqaban Hindukosh team.  They were simply outmatched today.

Toofan Harirod therefore win 250,000 Afghani in prize money and will be able to travel home to their family and friends with some sense of redemption.

Don’t forget that the RAPL Finals between ShaheenAsmayee and Simorgh Alborz kicks off tomorrow, October 11, at 2:30PM at AFF Stadium!