The Afghan National Football Team started the second phase of training for the AFC Challenge Cup 2014, which will be held in the Maldives on May 19, in eastern Nangarhar province on Sunday.
The Afghan National Football team coach Yousef Kargar has called 18 national team players for the training and it will continue for ten days in the province.
The third phase of the training will held in Qatar with no more than 16 expected to travel for the tournament.
"We have started a ten days training in Nangarhar province. In Kabul it was snowy and very cold, so we come here for the training and 18 players called for the squad" he said.
The draw for the AFC Challenge Cup 2014 will take place on Wednesday, February 12 at the Paradise Island Resort in the Maldives.
Joining the tournament hosts in next month's draw are two-time runners-up Turkmenistan, 2013 SAFF champions Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Palestine, the Philippines and Laos.
The eight-team competition will be held in the Maldives from May 19 to 30 with the winners of the fifth edition of the tournament for emerging nations also earning a berth at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.