Unity, perseverance, and pride through Afghan youth sports
Message on the Afghanistan National Football Team’s South Asian Games Runner-Up Victory
Keypoints:
- Achievement & Pride: Celebrating the team’s success and national recognition.
- Unity & Teamwork: Emphasizing collaboration, shared goals, and perseverance.
- Resilience & Determination: Overcoming adversity despite limited resources.
- Inspiration for Youth: Encouraging future generations through sports role models.
- National Identity: Sporting success as a symbol of a new, united Afghanistan.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Our heroic national players have created honor today on the green field of sports through empathy, endeavor, firm resolve, and the pursuit of a single goal. They fought gallantly to defend their championship title. Congratulations on your achievement as runners-up!
The Afghanistan National Football Team’s advancement to the final stage and securing second place is a cause for celebration. Our youth played with skill and fortitude until the very end of the tournament and deserve the encouragement of our people. I also wish to take this opportunity to congratulate the youth of the team from our friendly neighbor, India.
Our Heroic Young Athletes,
Just as our nation is indebted to our heroic youth in the ranks of the national security and defense forces who protect our soil and our people’s lives, we take equal pride in the bravery and honor brought by you, the champions of our national teams.
I know that your struggle was not merely to win a match; rather, your effort was to prove to the world the resolve, will, and capability of Afghans—and you have proven it well.
Dear Compatriots,
These youths have proven to us that with hearts full of love for the homeland and its people, and with a commitment to spare no effort in creating honor on the sports field, we can emerge triumphant from the toughest trials. They have proven that they are symbols of a New Afghanistan—a sign of empathy, labor, and a common purpose.
It is true that we do not possess the training centers, exercise facilities, or proper nutrition for our young athletes that other countries do. However, these youths have proven that with strong resolve and will, they can create epics. They have turned into reality the principle that a nation’s success lies not in discord and self-centeredness, but in unity and empathy.
Beloved Compatriots,
You know that these athletes—whether on the football or cricket pitches, whose exceptional successes today have astonished the world—have risen from the rubble of our war-torn cities and villages, or from under the scorching sun of the dry fields in refugee camps. They are the role models and inspirations for unity, empathy, commitment, and self-confidence for our current and future generations.
They are the harbingers of a future where our children and youth in exile will no longer look upon the happiness of others with deprivation and regret, nor despair over their own success. They now have their own champions and their own national victories to celebrate, gathering in the streets and cities to rejoice in their triumphs.
Dear People of Afghanistan,
Tonight, as a citizen and as your President, I feel a sense of pride and honor. Beside you on this winter night, I speak not of the legends of ancient stories or the Shahnameh, but of the contemporary heroism of Khaibar Amani and Shayestah.
Long live Afghanistan!