Afghanistan (5) v (4) Russia
By Matthew Price
GOALKEEPER Abdul Orfan was the hero as Afghanistan repelled Russia to win its first ever Homeless World Cup in Melbourne.
Federation Square stadium was packed for the 2008 final, and outside, thousands of fans crammed the square, spilling over onto Flinders Street and Birrarung Marr.
They saw a final worthy of an outstanding competition.
Russia – beaten only by Afghanistan this tournament – scored first. Fan favourite Mikhail Derevyankin, who wears 007, intercepted to set up Aleksandr Khachiyan, who slid the ball beneath Orfan.
Afghanistan took a few minutes to settle, and were guilty of looking too hard for a free man when they could perhaps have taken earlier chances to shoot.
Khachiyan clattered into Sayed Qasem, drawing a free kick from the referee and hoots from the hundred-strong Afghan contingent in the stands.
A bouncing ball fell to striker Sayed Reza for 1-1, before brilliant play by Qasem and Reza in traffic found Mustafa free.
With Afghanistan 2-1 ahead, neither side shirked a challenge, with the referee allowing several crunching exchanges. Reza exacted payback for Khachiyan’s earlier tackle, clattering into Andrey Pletnev and forcing the Russian from the pitch.
Russian keeper Maxim Shesterkov showed lightning reflexes to keep his side one down, and Davtyan rewarded his efforts, firing a left-foot rocket for 2-2.
Reza poached his second goal on the stroke of half-time, forcing the ball through Shesterkov’s legs after a tussle with Khachiyan.
After the prescribed 60-second half-time interval in the Homeless World Cup, the game shifted up another gear in the second stanza.
Derevyankin returned from the bench and found room on the left – his shot looping into the goal after hitting Reza’s hand.
The Afghan striker made much more effective use of his left foot seconds later, restoring a 4-3 lead and completing a fine hat-trick.
Davtyan pounced to poke an opportunist’s equaliser, before Qasem made the score 5-4.
With more than three minutes on the clock, it seemed likely that the goal-fest would continue, but instead began an onslaught from the Russian side, matched by a series of unbelievable stops from Orfan.
Pletnev was put through, but Orfan forced him wide and he shot into the back boards.
Interplay between Khachiyan and Davtyan left Davtyan free, but again Orfan flung himself at the striker and the Russian could only hammer the crossbar with his drive.
Afghanistan should perhaps have sealed the result after Russia passed to a player leaving the pitch. Before the substitution could be effected the ball spilled into promising position, but the Afghans hesitated and the chance was lost.
The final chance of the game fell to Derevyankin, but there was no miraculous escape for Russia’s international man of mystery as Orfan somehow beat his shot away.
Unbeaten throughout the tournament, the Afghans fell to the ground as the final whistle sounded, kneeling together on the halfway line before the celebrations truly began.
Photos: Photoworx
