ABAKRI ACCEPTS FIRST INTERNATIONAL CALL-UP TO AFGHANISTAN

Former Australia U-17 international Rahmat Akbari is about to transition to the country of his birth, with Afghanistan calling up the A-League midfielder for a camp in Turkey later this month. Akbari - who has made 50 A-League Men appearances for Brisbane since his debut in 2018 - has been courted by the world’s 150th-ranked nation for three years. The ex-Joey Rahmat Akbari has accepted a call to join up with Afghanistan's national team later this month.

The Brisbane Roar midfielder was born in Afghanistan but has spent the majority of his life in Queensland. He could still play for Australia again so long as he doesn't represent Afghanistan in a FIFA-sanctioned tournament.

And he has finally agreed to take up an offer from coach Anoush Dastgir - who has dual Dutch and Afghan citizenship. Dastgir has been trawling the globe to undercover players of Afghan lineage plying their trade in recognized leagues in an attempt to lift the war-scarred nation up the FIFA rankings.

And Akbari, 21, is the latest of the Afghani diaspora to join the fold for two friendly matches in Antalya, a former Socceroos training base on Turkey’s Turquoise Coast from March 19-25th. He will miss Brisbane’s ALM clashes against Perth, Melbourne City and Western United. Akbari, whose family arrived as refugees from Pakistan when he was aged five, would only be tied to Afghanistan should he feature in a FIFA-sanctioned tournament.
It will now be interesting to see how he links up with the Afghanistan national team and how he also blends into the team with the rest of the players for the first time. His pure talent makes it easy to expect him to have a great international career but he has also been tipped to improve on his game.