Mohammad Mashriqi

Mohammad Yusef Mashriqi (born 7 July 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Born in the United States, he played for the Afghanistan national team.

Early life Mashriqi's soccer lineage started with his father, Tahir, a former member of the Afghanistan national team. When communists took control of his country during the 10-year Afghanistan War, soccer took a back seat to survival for Tahir and his wife, Safora, and their son Sabir and daughter, Sabira, who were 5 and 3 at the time. Tahir took his family and fled to Pakistan. They reached the U.S. Embassy, and in 1985 they were safely in the United States. After settling in the Flushing, New York area, Mohammad was born two years later, in 1987.

Career

Youth and college Mashriqi attended Flushing High School and from the age of nine played for the famed Blau Weiss Gottschee club in New York, winning four State Cup championships. He was a member of his regional ODP from 2001 to 2005, and played for the Brooklyn Knights in the USL Super-Y League, helping them reach the national semifinals. He played four years of college soccer at Long Island University.

During his college years, Mashriqi also played in the USL Premier Development League for Bakersfield Brigade in 2006 and 2007, and with the Brooklyn Knights in 2009.

Mashriqi trained with the Under-17 squad of prestigious club Paris Saint-Germain, but switched his international allegiance to his father's country, Afghanistan in 2010.

He played in both of Afghanistan's qualifying games for the 2014 FIFA World Cup against Palestine in July 2011, and scored his first international goal for Afghanistan in its 8–1 victory over Bhutan in the quarter-finals of the 2011 SAFF Championship on December 7, 2011.

After being absent for almost 2 years Mashriqi was called up for the friendly match against Malaysia in October 2016.

Career statistics International

Scores and results list Afghanistan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mashriqi goal.

Honours

Afghanistan SAFF Championship: 2013