This press conference took place in the Atlas hotel, Dushanbe, Tajikistan today, 30 January, 2017. At the beginning, Mr. Mohammad Jan Hamidul-hov and Safar Ali Karimov, the Hosilot F.C coach and captain answered the questions of journalists regarding to tomorrow’s match. 

Mr. Mohammad Jan Hamidul-hov, the Hosilot’s coach, started the press conference with welcoming the 2016 Roshan Afghan Premier League (RAPL) champions, Shaheen Asmayee. He continued his remarks with appreciating Hosilot’s board of directors and fans for their support in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup 2017. “Winning the preliminary stage and escalating to the group stage is the main goal which Hosilot is seeking”, revealed Mr. Hamidul-hov during the press conference. He talked about the past four friendly matches of the team and said that the line-up for tomorrow’s game is finalized. 

As both of the two-leg play-off matches will take place in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, this will be an advantage for Hosilot since a large number of fans will attend the event to support their team, expressed the team’s coach. 

He talked about his knowledge about Shaheen Asmayee’s playing system and how well he knows Boir Igamberdiev’s thoughts and game strategies. Subsequently, he praised the achievements of Shaheen Asmayee. 

Meanwhile, captain Safar Ali Karimov told the journalists that tomorrow’s game will be a closely contested affair one and expects Hosilot to advance to the group stage of AFC Cup 2017. 

After Mr. Mohammad Jan Hamidul-hov and Safar Ali Karimov answered the questions, Boir Igamberdiev and Samiullah Mohammadi, Shaheen Asmayee’s coach and captain spoke about the game and answered the questions of journalists. 

Coach Boir Igamberdiev talked about the team’s moral and motivation for victory against Hosilot. He told the audience that Shaheen will be focused on a satisfactory result. “Though both preliminary matches will be in Dushanbe,” he stated, “Shaheen’s players are trained and prepared to win the game.”

He, then, assured the audience and journalist of Shaheen’s goal to advance to the AFC Cup 2017 group stage. 

Boir mentioned about Hosilot’s strengths and weaknesses and admired Mohammad Jan Hamidul-hov as one of the well-known coaches of Tajikistan. 

Next, Captain Samiullah Mohammadi started his speech mentioning the presence of an Afghan football club in an AFC event for the first time. Mohammadi updated the audience on how well they are prepared to triumph over their opponent, Hosilot F.C. He touched on security obstacles in Afghanistan and how the obstacles prevented Shaheen to host the home game in Kabul. 

“We are here to move forward, advance to the next level, and secure a spot in the AFC Cup 2017 group stage,” he added. “With the preparation and enthusiasm that Shaheen has, we will defeat Hosilot.” 

He pointed out the effective role of football in the Afghanistan’s future and asked all the Afghans in Tajikistan to attend the game and support their representative at the Republican Central Stadium, Dushanbe.

The first -leg play-off match of Shaheen Asmayee and Hosilot F.C of Tajikistan in the AFC Cup 2017 will be kicked-off today at the Republican Central Stadium of Dushanbe at 3:00 pm. This game will be a home game for Shaheen. 

To stay up-to-date about this lively game, follow and like RAPL social platforms. Read more about Shaheen Asmayee and the coming match on (www.afghanpremierleague.com). To see photos of the game against Hosilot F.C, like RAPL Instagram page (Afghanpremierleague.official).