A group of Kabul men flung off their baggy trousers and tunics yesterday for a game of post-Taliban soccer.
"In the past, soccer matches were interrupted and executions would be carried out for everyone to see," said Mr Ahmed Marof in the middle of a practice soccer match in the same Kabul football ground the Taliban used for shooting criminals. "What could we do?"
But yesterday's players were left to play interrupted, and they dared to wear shorts.
"Before, the Taliban used to make us play in long garments, and today you see us in short sleeves and shorts," said Ahmed Zaia. "It's wonderful."
The Taliban allowed soccer on special occasions, but with bizarre restrictions. Players had to wear long-sleeved shirts and long trousers - preventing the showing of skin, which the Taliban denounced as un-Islamic.
Applause was banned - spectators were told the appropriate way to show enthusiasm was to shout "Allah Akbar!" (God is Greatest).
The Taliban retreated from Kabul before dawn on Tuesday - freeing residents from their Draconian rules.
Women appeared on the streets without the head-to-toe burqa veils the Taliban forced them to wear, music was heard for the first time since the militia took the city in 1996, children flew kites, and men shaved off the beards the Taliban made compulsory.
The Taliban's interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic, law imposed the death penalty for several offences. Executions were often carried out in public, sometimes by the family of the victim. With few other sources of entertainment, Afghans often flocked to stadiums to watch.