In a tiny, decaying aluminium smelting town in southern Tajikistan, a short drive from a raging war zone, Afghanistan take on Palestine in the first Asian qualifier for 2014's World Cup in Brazil. Every player on both teams is risking something by playing: their careers, their families, even their l[...]

For as much as football forms an unlikely thread between different countries, the sport reflects what is unique in the national characters of those who play, support and organise it. This work offers an account of the author's journey, during which he gets stoned with the Yemeni FA and was made to s[...]