Mohammad Yusef Mashriqi (born 7 July 1987) is an American-born

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 ...

professional soccer player who represented 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 The United States has the second most Diplomatic mission, diplomatic missions of any country in the world List of diplomatic missions of China, after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as obse ...

, and in 1985 they were safely in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. After settling in the

Flushing, New York Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the i ...

area, Mohammad was born two years later, in 1987.

Career

Youth and college

Mashriqi attended

Flushing High School Flushing High School is a four-year public high school in Flushing, in the New York City borough of Queens. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education. As of the 2020-21 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1, ...

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 College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

at Long Island University During his college years, Mashriqi also played in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

for

Bakersfield Brigade Bakersfield Brigade was an American soccer team based in Bakersfield, California, United States. Founded in 2005, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009, after whi ...

in 2006 and 2007, and with the

Brooklyn Knights Brooklyn Knights were an American soccer club based in New York City. Founded in 1999, the Knights currently field youth teams in the United Soccer Leagues Super-20 League and Super Y-League. The team also previously field a team in the USL Pr ...

in 2009 Mashriqi trained with the Under-17 squad of prestigious club

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

, and with the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

of Major League Soccer during their 2008 pre-season. Mashriqi is currently a part of the reserve squad for

which plays in the

MLS Reserve Division The MLS Reserve League was a soccer league for the reserve teams of Major League Soccer with teams in both the United States and Canada. It was inaugurated on April 9, 2005, with the first official reserve game being a 2–0 victory by Chiva ...

, while simultaneously playing for New York-area amateur team Brishna F.C.

International

Mashriqi was a member of the U.S. Under-14 National Team, but switched his international allegiance to his father's country,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

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 Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

in the quarter-finals of the

2011 SAFF Championship The 2011 South Asian Football Federation Championship, sponsored by Karbonn Mobiles and officially named Karbonn SAFF Championship 2011, was the 9th tournament of the SAFF Championship, which held in New Delhi, India. Venue It was originally s ...

on December 7, 2011. After being absent for almost 2 years Mashriqi was called up for the friendly match against

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

in October 2016.

Honours

Afghanistan * SAFF Championship:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

References

External links

Long Island University bio
*
bigapplesoccer.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mashriqi, Mohammad 1987 births Living people American men's soccer players Afghan men's footballers Afghanistan men's international footballers United States men's youth international soccer players American people of Afghan descent Men's association football midfielders Expatriate men's footballers in India Afghan expatriate men's footballers Afghan expatriate sportspeople in India American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in India Long Island University alumni People from Flushing, Queens Calcutta Football League players