Historic futsal feat inspires young Afghans

Inspired by the "extraordinary" rise of his country's national futsal team, Mustafa beats the dawn every day to train in a busy sports complex in central Kabul.

- 

The 21-year-old was proud to see Afghanistan play their first Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan in September, rubbing shoulders against top teams like Argentina, Paraguay and Ukraine.

"We feel extremely happy, it helps us to have a dream, understand that nothing is impossible in our lives, and, if we try hard for something, we can achieve it," he told AFP, hinting at his goal of also representing his country one day.

In the group stage, Afghanistan beat Angola 6-4, suffered a hard-fought loss to the 2016 champions Argentina 2-1, and lost to Ukraine 4-1. However, they still booked their place in the last 16 of the showpiece event.

On Sept 25, Afghanistan were knocked out 3-1 by Paraguay after extra time.