Sweden’s Kurdish football club Dalkurd fall to 2-0 loss
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdish-affiliated football club Dalkurd FF dropped more points on Saturday in a 2-0 loss to opponents Halmstads BK in Sweden’s second-tier Superettan league.
Halmstad’s Thomas Boakye gave the home team an early lead when he scored after 10 minutes.
Dalkurd continued to push forward despite the early setback and nearly found an equalizer but it was Halmstad who doubled their lead when Andreas Johansson scored on the stroke of half time.
There were no goals in the second half, but Boakye was sent off for a second bookable offense after a quick succession of fouls.
However, Dalkurd could not make use of their man advantage as Halmstad held on for the 2-0 victory.
The Kurdish club’s form has dipped in recent weeks as the team has only picked up a single point in their last three league matches. They currently sit in seventh place.
Dalkurd’s (8-3-8) next game is against GAIS (5-4-9) on Aug. 18 at 4 p.m. Erbil time.
Based in the Swedish city of Borlänge, Dalkurd was founded on Sept. 26, 2004, by nine Kurdish immigrants as a social project. The club has since built academies in both Sweden and the Kurdistan Region.
The team’s colors are symbolic of Kurdistan, with the Kurdish flag included in the crest on their shirts.
Dalkurd had bull-dozed its way up the ranks of Swedish football since its 2005 introduction in Tier Seven, winning five promotions in its first five seasons.
After a string of poor results in Sweden’s top division, Dalkurd were relegated on the last day of the 2018 season, finishing in 15th place with 24 points (6-6-18).
