APL

Zohaib instantly became a classic, De Spinghar Bazan hero as he saved the day for his side against De Maiwand Atalan in the semi-finals of last years' RAPL main event. The match was decisive for securing the third place ranking in the tournament between the two teams and thanks to Zohaib's brilliant saves, De Spinghar Bazan came out victorious in a thrilling penalty shootout.

He was the second goalkeeper of his team at the time and it was only his third chance to take part in the official league matches. This year, he has trained harder and appears more confident to take the lead as the first goalkeeper of the team.

His full name is Ahmad Zohaib Aseel and he is 22 years old from Nangarhar province. He is tall and has the right athletic stature of a successful goalkeeper.

He has lived almost his entire life and finished high school in Pakistan as a refugee. "As a young boy playing for my high school team, I always dreamt of playing football in Afghanistan. But, observing the situation in our country at the time, thought of playing in such a professional football league never crossed my mind." he said. Zohaib also says that he finds himself lucky and super excited to play for the second year in RAPL and for his home team De Spinghar Bazan.

He came back to Afghanistan in 2010 and since then he has been playing for Khatiz Football Team in Jalalabad city alongside some of the best players from Nangarhar.

 He lives with his 13 members of family in Jalalabad and says "I am grateful to have such a supportive family and especially my dad who have always supported my education and football career. I wouldn't be here without their support.".

Zohaib's favorite football team is Arsenal and his ideal goalkeeper is Iker Casillas who until recently was the Capitan of Real Madrid FC.

He is young, energetic, and most important of all ambitious to achieve more and play for the national team. "Once I set my mind to something, I achieve it or I will exhaust every cell in my body trying to achieve it." he commented about his struggle and process to get better at what he does best, football.

The 2015 RAPL main event is set to kick off on August 27 at AFF Stadium. The matches will be exclusively broadcasted live on TOLO TV, Lemar TV, Arman FM, and Arakozai FM.  It will also be watchable on the RAPL YouTube page (www.youtube.com/afghanpremierleague).