Afghan U-14 national football team left Kabul early Saturday for India to participate in the four nation Subroto Cup Football Tournament. Thirty two teams, including the national team, from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India will participate.

These other teams are primarily club teams. On Monday, Afghanistan will play its first match against an Indian team. Last year, Afghanistan U-14 team played well and went through to the semi-finals of the tournament.

The team scored 33 goals in total but lost to Bangladesh in the semi-final round from a penalty shot. “We have done our preparations in the past two months for the tournament.

The team is motivated and we hope that this time we win the cup,” the team’s coach, Wahidullah Wahidi,said.

A member of the team, Mohammad Sulaiman Akrami said: “I participated in a few international competitions and this time I hope we bring the cup home to our country.”