DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) _ Like athletes everywhere, Afghan and U.S. cricketers want their match to be about which team is better _ not the relationship between their countries.

Afghanistan has been grouped with the United States in the qualifying tournament for the Twenty20 World Cup and the two sides will meet at Dubai Sports City on Thursday. Both teams are trying hard to downplay the political overtones connected to the nine years of war between the Taliban and U.S. and allied forces.

“We are not even thinking about it,” U.S. team captain Steve Massiah said. “It’s politics, but we are here to win the match and the entire tournament. That’s our objective.”

A victory by Afghanistan would offer a moment of pride _ and a welcome diversion _ in the war-torn country.

As hundreds of U.S. troops in Afghanistan prepare for the battle of Marjah, the biggest military offensive of the conflict, Raees Ahmadzai, a 25-year-old middle-order batsman is confident of a victory that would move his team closer to joining the elite nations at the World Cup in the West Indies in May.

“We will beat them, but our goal is not just to defeat the Americans, but to qualify for the World Cup,” said Ahmadzai.

Cricket is little known in the U.S., but it has been part of Afghanistan’s sports landscape for decades. More recently, the passion for the game developed among Afghan refugees in neighboring Pakistan.

Like all sports, cricket was banned during the Taliban rule. Then in 2000, it became the only sport allowed by the hardline Islamic movement. A year later the national team was formed and Afghanistan became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council, the game’s Dubai-based governing body.

With no sports infrastructure and continued instability, the Afghan team meets on improvised cricket grounds and plays for spectators on makeshift soccer fields. The players often travel to Pakistan for training, said Seed Shah, the team’s manager.

Despite a lack of security, the number of cricket fans is growing and the game has the support of “many factions,” including the Taliban and President Hamid Karzai, Shah said.

“There are groups trying to sabotage sports events in Afghanistan, but the interest in cricket has rapidly picked up and luckily the players have not been threatened,” Shah said.

In the U.S., cricket players struggle with different problems. The national team rarely practices together since players _ mostly of immigrant background and with regular jobs _ live far apart.

The game struggles for funding since sponsors pour money into popular sports like baseball and football. And unlike international cricket matches, played on the turf wicket, most cricket in the U.S. is played on a synthetic surface.

“We are the underdogs,” said Sushail Nadkarni, a U.S. player. The team’s expectations in playing Afghanistan are realistic, he said, but hopes of qualifying for the World Cup are high. “We’ll take it one game at a time.”

Imran Khan Suddahazai, the U.S. team manager, said American cricketers are focusing on the sport and not politics.

“There’s conflict in Afghanistan and the U.S. government is involved, but we’d like to dissociate ourselves from that,” Suddahazai said. “Cricket is sport, a healthy way of competition.”

The Afghan team is made up of “a great bunch of guys,” Suddahazai said. He praised their achievements, their dedication to cricket and hailed their “remarkable spirit.”

“We represent the world power in politics, but in cricket we have a lot to learn from Afghanistan,” Suddahazai said. “We’d like to emulate their success, qualify for the World Cup and enhance cricket in the U.S.”

A spot in the World Cup is what is expected of the Afghan team, its manager Shah said, but he acknowledged that the “enthusiasm is focused on at least beating the U.S.”

“We want to show that Afghanistan is not worth less than any other country if only given a fair chance,” Shah said.

Joining Afghanistan and the U.S. in Group A are Ireland and

Scotland.     Group B is made up of Netherlands, Kenya, Canada and United Arab

Emirates.

The two finalists from the qualifying competition, which will include a playoff stage among the top two teams from each group, will take place during May’s main event. The winner of the qualifying tournament will join South Africa and India in Group C, while the losing finalist will be placed with West Indies and England in Group D.

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