top of page

AFGHAN PRO SOCCER PLAYER

Hazratgul Baran (Part I)

First Afghan professional athlete to play new sport of Beach Soccer in Brazil  ​

 

Few people would expect to find an Afghan professional football star becoming world-famous on the beaches of Brazil.  

     Yet that is exactly what 25-year-old Hazratgul Baran is doing, and he isn't even close to being done.

    Hazratgul was born in Iran to an Afghan refugee family.  He began playing football there at the age of ten. His family saw his great talent and love for the game, and they dreamed that young Hazratgul would one day become a professional football star.... (more) 

 

Read Hazratgul Baran's first interview with Edward Zellem

"Afghan Pro Football Star Scores on the Beaches of Brazil"

 

 

HAZRATGUL BARAN

 

AFGHAN CELEBRITY AND THOUGHT LEADER INTERVIEWS

with Edward Zellem  

AFGHAN PRO SOCCER PLAYER

Hazratgul Baran (Part II)

First Afghan professional athlete to play new sport of Beach Soccer in Brazil  ​

 

     I will never forget how Iranian officials kicked me off the field just because I was an Afghan playing on an Iranian Pro League team, as we talked about in Part I of our interview.  I was only 14 years old at the time, and it hurt. 

     I hope one day to play against an Iranian team again.  I will look each Iranian player in the eye.  Then I will make them never forget how an Afghan can play football when I defeat them. It won’t be their fault what happened to me in Iran, of course. I still have many Iranian friends and I like the Iranian people.  But as a proud Afghan, I wouldn’t mind showing them the mistake they made that day on the field in Khuzestan.... (more) 

 

Read Hazratgul Baran's second interview with Edward Zellem

"More with Afghan Pro Football Star Hazratgul Baran"

bottom of page