Even Under Heavy Rain; Kabul's Boy Storms Ahead in the Netherlands

Almere City, Led by Anoush Dastgir, Beat FC Eindhoven With Three Goals to Climb to Second in the Eerste Divisie

According to Sport Se, Almere City defeated FC Eindhoven by 3-0 in the 10th week of the Dutch League One to take the second place in the table with 22 points. This team is now only three points away from the top and is considered one of the contenders for promotion. An interesting thing about Almere City is the presence of Anush Dasgir on the bench of this team. A 36-year-old coach who has traveled a different path in football and is now in his first season as the head coach of Almere's senior team, is trying to bring this team to the top of the table.

Dastgir was born in Kabul and immigrated to the Netherlands with his family as a child. He followed football in this country and played for Nijmegen's grassroots teams, but his playing career ended too soon. A serious knee injury at the age of 21 robbed him of his dream of continuing professional football and made him change his path to coaching.

After completing the coaching courses, this coach from Afanistan started his career in Nijmegen's basic ranks and took charge of the youth team. Being in the basic ranks gave him the opportunity to gain experience and gradually enter higher levels and finally reach the technical staff of the Afghanistan national team.

Dastgir first worked as an assistant in the Afghanistan national team, and in 2018, at the age of 28, he was chosen as the head coach of this team. He was in charge of Afghanistan for four years and added the experience of working at the national level to his portfolio. After the end of this cooperation, he returned to the Netherlands to continue his activity in club football and started his activity in the youth category again.

After leading the youth team of Almere City, Dastgir joined the technical staff of the senior team and gained coaching experience in the under-18 team of the Netherlands. Finally, this season, Almere City Club entrusted him with the leadership of the senior team, so that after years of working in different categories, Dasgir could find the opportunity to be the head coach of a professional team, and now the results of the beginning of the season show that his team was able to be among the contenders of the Dutch League 1.

A 3-0 win against FC Eindhoven was the latest example of Almere City's good start to the season, and an interesting thing happened during it. In the middle of the game, it started to rain heavily, but Dasgir was still standing on the side of the field and directing his players, and even when they brought him an umbrella, he preferred not to stay under it and continue his work on the sidelines. Now this 36-year-old coach, who had to give up football as a player due to an injury, is in a position to compete with Almere City to reach the top of the table.