Esmat Shanwary (

Dari Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī � ...

: عصمت شنواری;) born (9 October 1993) in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

is an

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

footballer who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

FC Lienden FC Lienden is a football club from Lienden, Netherlands. The club was established on 1 August 1930. History In 2010s, the club saw a rise through the Dutch football pyramid, under the guidance of former professional player Hans Kraay Jr., wh ...

Youth

Shanwary played in the youth of VV Sluiskil, GVV '57, N.E.C., N.E.C./FC Oss and

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard. The club was formed in 1970 as a merge ...

before joining

Achilles '29 Achilles '29 is a football club from Groesbeek, Netherlands, competing in the sixth-tier Eerste Klasse. The club is known for its successes in the Dutch domestic cup, having knocked FC Volendam, Heracles Almelo, RKC Waalwijk, Telstar and MV ...

in 2014.

Career

Shanwary signed his first professional contract for

. Many clubs where interested in signing him but he said no to clubs like

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

, PSV and his former club N.E.C. Shanwary was on trial at

and PSV and made a good impression but

came with the best offer. In his first match for FC Utrecht he got injured which ended his season. In the 2014–2015 season Shanwary played for First Division club

. Esmat made his debut in an away match against

Jong PSV Jong PSV is a Dutch football team based in Eindhoven. It is the reserve team of PSV Eindhoven and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2013–14 season. History Until 2013, Jong PSV played in the Beloften Eredivisie, a league exclusively for ...

as a substitute. Shanwary made his debut in the KNVB Beker as a substitute against FC Twente. Esmat signed a contract with Topklasse club

GVVV Gelders Veenendaalse Voetbal Vereniging, better known as GVVV, is a Dutch football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a ma ...

in May 2015. On 15 December 2015 the club of Shanwary decided to not give a new contract. He had to leave the club. Shanwary signed a contract with

HSV Hoek Hoekse Sportvereniging Hoek, known as HSV Hoek, is a football club based in Hoek, Zeeland, Netherlands, that competes in the Derde Divisie. History The club was founded in 1950. Indian football legend Syed Abdul Rahim has appeared with the clu ...

in November.

International career

Shanwary was called up for the Afghan national team for a friendly match against

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

on 31 March 2015. Because of a heavy snow storm the match was cancelled. Eventually he made his debut against

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

in a friendly match. They won the match with 2–0. Shanwary played his second game for the Afghan national team against Bangladesh. He came in the second half as a substitute. He scored in the last minutes of the game with a beautiful shot which made the score end in a 1–1 draw.

International goals

Career statistics

Club performance

:''Statistics accurate as of last match played on 26 March 2015.'' ¹ Includes

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

and

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

matches. ² Includes

Johan Cruijff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

matches.

Personal life

Shanwary holds both Dutch and

passports.

References

External links

* Living people Pashtun people 1993 births Afghan footballers Afghan emigrants to the Netherlands Afghanistan international footballers Afghan expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Association football midfielders Dutch people of Pashtun descent Footballers from Kabul Achilles '29 players GVVV players HSV Hoek players FC Lienden players Eerste Divisie players Derde Divisie players {{Afghanistan-footy-bio-stub