Anoush’s story: how football is helping refugees to build new lives
Dienstag, 14. Oktober 2025
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Ahead of the 2025 UEFA Unity EURO Cup, Anoush Dastgir recounts his incredible journey from Afghanistan via refugee camps in Pakistan and India to coaching the Netherlands' Under-18 national team.
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My father fought against the Soviet Union after they invaded Afghanistan. After the withdrawal of Soviet forces in 1989, a civil conflict broke out. It was no longer safe, and my family fled to Pakistan, where we lived in a refugee camp in Peshawar. Then we went to India before returning to Pakistan.
My father came to the Netherlands, and eventually we joined him; my mother, myself, my sister and two brothers. I was in a totally new environment. A new language, new people and very cold! I was used to summer temperatures of 40+ degrees, so the Dutch climate was a shock. Of course it was tough. We’d already left everything behind to flee Afghanistan, and now we had to do the same again.
"Try to find a connection with society and remain open-minded. We have to try and understand each other’s perspective."
Discovering football
I never played football as a young kid. Growing up in Pakistan and India, the main sport was cricket. We were also constantly climbing, jumping, running, and doing other sports like basketball. It was only when I came to the Netherlands that I saw children playing street football for the first time. As a child, especially one who has been uprooted, you just want to fit in. So, I started joining in. Initially I wasn't very good, but I practised for hours and hours. I learned that, if you’re good, other kids want you in their team. You also learn how to stand up for yourself, and to give your opinion.
The full story of Anoush’s remarkable life is told in his biography: Anoush: how the youngest national coach in the world managed to unify Afghanistan (ISBN 9789400409286, Dutch language).
"Football was the reason I was able to adapt quickly and feel at home."
What's great about the game is that all you need is a ball. You don't have to speak the same language. The rules aren't complicated. Football was the reason I was able to adapt quickly and feel at home. To this day, my best friends are still the Armenian guys I played with, first at the asylum centre and at the local club. Later I also made Dutch friends.
A first taste of Oranje fever
When I was growing up in the Netherlands, my football idols were Edgar Davids and then Nigel de Jong. I saw football on TV for the first time during Euro 2000, and Edgar was playing. There was orange everywhere in the village – I’d never seen anything like it. That’s when I bought my first orange shirt and really started feeling I belonged in the country. Nigel actually interviewed me for my role as Under-18 coach. I only told him how much I’d admired him after we were finished!
Emotional return to Afghanistan
When I first went back to Afghanistan, as a player, I cried when I arrived at the airport. It was as if everything – the smell, the colours, the sounds, the people – had always lived in me. Not because I don't feel at home in the Netherlands, but Afghanistan is where I was born.
"I always find it so painful when people say: adapt or go back!... We’re trying to adapt, but it’s not easy."
For all refugees building a better life somewhere, their country of origin is always in their subconscious. I always find it painful when people say: adapt or go back! They have no idea, because they’ve never experienced it. We’re trying to adapt – everyday - but it’s not easy.
Embarking down a new path
I discovered I was good at coaching when my father left and returned to Afghanistan. Aged 14, I became the man of the house. I was always the one who translated for my dad, so I was used to organising things.
I got my first opportunity to coach a team on my 20th birthday. The trainer of the NEC Under-17 amateur team couldn’t make it, so I stepped in. It went really well. I picked up a serious injury six months later, so I knew I wasn't going to become a professional footballer, and the club helped me develop my coaching skills. I got all my UEFA badges. I coached the NEC Under-19 team and was then assistant manager of the club’s amateur side.
The world's youngest national coach
I then took the Afghanistan team for four years. At that time. I was the youngest national team coach in the world; I was 28. I really enjoyed it, but what a challenge. In my first year, COVID started. In the second, the Taliban returned to power. And in my fourth, all sponsors stopped supporting us. I always say that I got my qualifications in the Netherlands, but I really learned to coach in Afghanistan. That’s stuff you don’t learn in the classroom.
"We became a symbol of hope for the country."
A lot of our players had come through asylum centres in the Netherlands, Germany, America and Australia. I wanted guys of all ethnicities and from all different parts of the country in the team. We became a symbol of hope for Afghanistan. I used to tell the players: we have to do it ourselves. You have to build the foundations yourself.
We became incredibly popular in Afghanistan and with Afghanis elsewhere. People don't have a lot to celebrate in my country. When we played our home matches in Iran, there were 50,000 Afghans in the stadium, and we had 20,000 coming in Tajikistan.
Don't be afraid to express yourself
"I hope I can inspire other people who come from situations similar to mine."
As the coach of the Under-18 Dutch national team, I hope I inspire other people who come from situations similar to mine. First, I would encourage refugees to speak out and acknowledge their issues. They shouldn't be ashamed to express themselves. Because, in the beginning, I was. Ashamed that I came from Afghanistan; that I couldn’t understand what people were saying; that I was different… so you avoid contact, which only makes the situation worse.
We're not victims
The second thing I would say is: never play the victim card. I had a difficult family situation. I'm a war child. But I'm not a victim. Try to find a connection with society and remain open-minded. Be prepared to grow. I believe we have to try and understand each other’s perspective. Don't create a distance or take a position. Talk about things - that’s the best way of finding a solution. Of course, things won't change in one day. But have patience. It’s worth it.
"We want to contribute. To be part of something."
I came to the Netherlands to contribute to its development. In my case, through football. In someone else's case, it’s by developing infrastructure, or becoming a doctor, or whatever. You often hear people say that refugees just want to take, take, take. Housing. Jobs. But that’s not true. We want to contribute. To be part of something.
A tournament that helps with integration
"What I like about this tournament is that there are local people in the same team as refugees."
I’m looking forward to the Unity EURO Cup. What I like about this tournament is that there are local people in the same team as refugees. It’s a perfect example of how you can integrate. It’s much better than organising events for refugees only, because then they don’t connect with the communities around them.
Cruijff Courts throughout Afghanistan
I'm so grateful that I live in the Netherlands and have been given the chance to build a new life. I want to give something back to the country; my under-18 coaching role is a wonderful opportunity to do so. But I would love to help in Afghanistan as well. My dream is to build a Cruijff Court in every province in the country, so that children of different ethnicities can play and forget their worries for a while, and just enjoy being children. That’s the power of football: when you're on the pitch, you don't think about anything else.
The Unity EURO Cup
The Unity EURO Cup is more than just a football tournament – it's a celebration of our sport's power to unite communities, regardless of background.
Organised by UEFA in collaboration with our partners UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), teams made up of refugees and players from their host communities compete in a mixed-gender event that puts the floodlights on sport’s vital role in facilitating social inclusion.
Find out more HERE.
The full story of Anoush’s remarkable life is told in his biography: Anoush: how the youngest national coach in the world managed to unify Afghanistan (ISBN 9789400409286, Dutch language).