KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghans welcomed home their national soccer team with exuberance and joy, a day after the squad won the war-weary country its first international championship in the sport.

President Hamid Karzai greeted the team Thursday at the Kabul airport, hugging the players and posing with them and their gleaming trophy for the cameras. The athletes then headed to Ghazi Stadium, where they were met by thousands of rambunctious fans who screamed in happiness and jostled — at times dangerously — to get close to their heroes.

Afghanistan beat India 2-0 in the South Asian Football Federation Championship on Wednesday. The win brought rare unity to this ethnically divided nation, where the former Taliban government once used sports stadiums to stage executions and where bombings are still part of daily life. The reaction indicated that Afghan society had healed in some ways since the U.S. ousted the Islamist movement in 2001.

For hours after the win, Afghans danced in the streets, honked car horns and fired guns in celebration. Some painted their bodies the green, black and red colors of the national flag. On Thursday morning, many greeted one another with “Congratulations!” while shouts of “Long live Afghanistan!” were still echoing across the capital by the evening.

Afghan television networks devoted heavy airtime to the players’ return, interspersed with performances of patriotic songs.

“I am proud of the Afghan team — they made the greatest victory in the Afghan history, and I am proud to be Afghan,” said Shukria Barakzai, an Afghan parliamentarian and one of the relatively few women in this strict Muslim nation who went out in public to celebrate.

The celebrations stretched well beyond Kabul. Even in Kandahar, a deeply conservative city in the Taliban-riddled south, Afghans of all ages hit the streets in pride, according to photos posted by the government there. The revelers piled into cars, waving national flags as they drove through streets crowded with fellow fans.

Javid Faisal, the spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, tweeted in what might have been only half-jest: “I will not post any casualty reports for 24 hours as I am celebrating the championship of Afghanistan.”

A spokesman for the Taliban, who are engaged in an insurgency to topple the U.S.-backed government, did not answer his phone on Wednesday or Thursday.

Afghans began playing soccer about 90 years ago, and the country’s national federation was founded in 1922. Afghanistan joined FIFA in 1948. The country also was a founding member of the Asian Football Confederation in 1954.

From the 1950s through the ’70s, soccer gained a strong following in Afghanistan, but it nearly disappeared during the Soviet occupation from 1979-89 and the civil war that followed from 1992-96.

When the Taliban ruled from 1996-2001, they severely restricted sports, and public outpourings of joy like this week’s would have been unimaginable. But after the American-led invasion ousted the Taliban from power, soccer and other sports here were reborn, offering new opportunities for national pride.

Still, Afghans have struggled on many levels as fighting has continued between foreign and Afghan troops and the Taliban insurgents. Moments of national unity are especially welcome amid growing uncertainty over what will happen to the country after U.S.-led troops finish their withdrawal next year.

During Taliban rule, Afghans were forbidden from watching television, as the militants deemed it an unnecessary diversion from religion. On Thursday, Afghan television networks broadcast the return of the soccer team live.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden became the first home team to win the world hockey championships in 27 years, beating Switzerland 5-1 on Sunday for its ninth title.

Vancouver Canucks star Henrik Sedin had two goals and an assist, and Buffalo Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth made 26 saves to help Sweden become the first team to win the title on home ice since the Soviet Union in 1986. Switzerland earned its first medal in 60 years.
“It was a tight game,” Sedin said. “It could have gone either way, I felt. It was lucky we got our first two goals pretty quickly after their first one. After we scored our third, it felt pretty calm on the bench.”
Simon Hjalmarrson, Philadelphia’s Erik Gustafsson and Dallas’ Loui Eriksson also scored for Sweden. Roman Josi had the lone goal for Switzerland.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling. You can’t put it into words,” New Jersey’s Henrik Tallinder said. “As soon as we got our legs and got that first goal, I thought we controlled the game pretty well.”
In the third-place game, the United States beat Finland 3-2 in a shootout for its first medal in nine years.
The young Swiss team came out aggressively, opening the scoring in the fifth minute after Josi skated in from the blue line and backhanded the puck past Enroth.
But Sweden took over from there, scoring twice in the first period and using the edge to dominate the game.
“We were slow out of the gates, but after the second goal I felt we had control over the game,” Tallinder said. “The Swiss haven’t had many times they’ve been down, so we could play their game against them.”
Switzerland dominated throughout the tournament, winning all nine of its games before the final.
“Right up until the end I thought it was a lot closer than it was,” forward Ryan Gardner said. “The score’s not indicative of how hard we’ve worked.”
In the bronze-medal game, Montreal’s Alex Galchenyuk scored consecutive goals in the shootout for the Americans.
“After I scored the first one, I was pretty confident and I wanted to go at it one more time,” Galchenyuk said. “We (coach Joe Sacco and Galchenyuk) kind of looked at each other, and I was like: ‘I want to go,’ and I’m happy that he let me. When you win a game for your country … it’s unbelievable. It’s probably the happiest I’ve been in my life so far.”
Nashville’s Craig Smith and Colorado’s Paul Stastny had first-period goals.
“It feels great,” St. Louis forward T.J. Oshie said. “This is my fourth time playing for Team USA, and I hadn’t gotten a medal. Obviously, we wanted it to be gold, but that’s not going to take any excitement away from winning this.”
John Gibson, a 19-year-old goalie for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League, made 36 saves.
“At the end there, Gibson was outstanding,” Sacco said. “We had only two days of preparation for this tournament and I thought our young group did a really good job. I told them after the game that the most impressive thing was … how we came together as a group.”
Gibson, from Pittsburgh, was drafted 39th overall by Anaheim in 2011.
“I don’t know,” Gibson said when asked about his future. “We’re just going to enjoy this for a bit and see what happens.”
Phoenix’s Lauri Korpikoski scored twice in the third period for Finlan