When most of us think of Afghanistan; war, bloodshed, Taliban, hunger, tribal conflicts comes first to the mind. Football would be the last thing to come. On this editorial special, one player who has made a great impact for Afghanistan on the world stage is none other goal poacher Belal Arezou.
Belal Arezou-born in Kabul- Afghanistan on 28 December 1988. At age 11 his parents fled from the war torn nation to find peace, harmony and most importantly a future for their children. They ended up in Norway and Arezou started his football career playing in the youth/reserves teams of FK Senja, Grane ABK, FK Arendal and Fredrikstad.

Afghanistan has not entered to participate in the newly created tournament under the AFC banner, AFC U22 Championships. A total of 39 nations have submitted their interest to take part, of which Afghanistan have not entered into the competition. The first edition is expected to be held in June 2013 while the next edition of the biennial competition will serve as qualifiers for the 2016 Olympics.

Yusef Mashriqi, US based football player and current Afghanistan national team member is on trial with Uzbekistan champions Bunyodkor FC. The former New York Red Bulls reserves player has been invited into a training camp held in Dubai for the upcoming “Match World Cup 2012” to be held in Dubai.

Afghanistan will play in the Nehru Cup 2012 to be played on 15th August 2012 to 25th August 2012 in India. It comes as no surprise for the nation to be included in this tournament after an exceptional performance in the recent SAFF Cup 2011.

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, Bhutan, Pakistan and Maldives.It is often referred to as the World Cup of South Asia. Prior to this championship, Afghanistan was dubbed as weak and ranked seventh of the eight nations, no one expected them to battle their way to the final. To reach the final of the South Asian Football Federation Championships was a reward on its own, and they took everyone by surprise with the football being played.

FootballAfghanistan.com is becoming bigger and better for the 2012 year. A number of changes will be made to give you all the latest, and up to date information on Afghanistan football. The website will be changed to a new format making it be the best Afghan Football website. The following is a list of changes being made to the website:

- Database of Afghan origin players shortlisted for the Afghanistan National Football Team
- Kabul Premier League results and matches
- Afghan players playing in leagues outside Afghanistan,
- Transfer rumours of all Afghan origin players,
- National team news, results, and fixtures of all ages

A match Afghanistan had the upper hand on India, a match that certainly was in favour of Afghanistan for 60 minutes, until the unfortunate red card of Hamidullah Yousufzai brought down the Lions to their defeat.

Afghanistan defeated Nepal in a tough match in poor slippery conditions with a Belal Arezu extra time goal to win 1-0. A physically draining match which saw a number of Afghan players cramp up after playing 4 games in 7 days. Extraordinary effort from the Afghan lions. They will play India in the final on Sunday 11th December 2011.

Afghanistan showed there superiority against lowly Bhutan after thumping them 8-1. It was goals galore as Afghanistan ran riot. Goals from Ata Yamrali (1), Belal Arezu (4), Zohib Islam Amiri (1), Yusef Mashriqi (1) and Djallaludin Sharitar (1) gave Afghanistan a stunning win and topped Group A ahead of India, where they will meet Nepal in the semi final. A revenge match it is as Nepal squeezed past Afghanistan 1-0 in the qualifiers of the AFC Challenge Cup earlier this year.

A full replay of the match between Afghanistan and Bhutan, the third and final match of the group stage with Afghanistan looking to cement their place at the top of the group with another victory.