Afghanistan (7) v (6) Russia

By Claire Varley

IN ONE of the most passionate, fast-paced games of the tournament so far, Afghanistan wrestled victory from Russia, 7-6.

Russia set the pace with goals from David Davtyan and Russia's 007, Mikhail Derevyankin, before Afghanistan met this with a close goal from Masih.

Quick reflexes from the Afghan keeper kept the score down, until Russia used great team work to set up a cross that resulted in a second goal for Davtyan.

A similar move gave Russia's Valeriy Kalachev his first goal of the match. As the half-time whistle went, Davtyan fired through his third goal of the match, putting Russia in the lead 5-1.

In the opening minutes of the second half a free kick from a hand ball almost gave Afghanistan their second goal of the game, with striker Mustafa playing some spectacular football.

He followed this up by setting up a goal for Sayeed Reza. This set off a rush of energy from the Afghanistan team, with fantastic passing resulting in Mustafa scoring his first goal, and Sayeed Reza getting another, levelling the score at 5-5, sending the Afghan cheer squad crazy with excitement.

Reza fired through another goal, putting Afghanistan in front and stirring more excitement from the Afghan fans.

In the dying minutes of the game, the tension was obvious both on and off pitch, and a frantic scramble in goals evened the score as Davytan scored.

A manic pace set in as both sides displayed tremendous goalkeeping.

With three seconds to go it was the stuff of movies as Reza put a powerful shot into the net, sealing the match for Afghanistan 7-6 as its fans went wild.

Photos: Photoworx