Tag: Pakistan Football

HISOR: The national women’s football team failed to script a winning start to their AFC Olympic Qualifiers campaign as the side endured a 0-4 thrashing in their opening fixture against the Philippines.

Pakistan collided with the ruthless Philippines side in their first Group E fixture of the qualifiers and suffered a one-sided defeat.

The Philippines dominated throughout the match while Pakistan struggled to get themselves going in the game.

The green shirts had a dismal start to the game as they conceded the first three goals during the first half with Hali Long, Sarina Bolden and Eva Madarang scoring one each for the Philippines.

Pakistan’s defence then put up a relatively better show in the second half and allowed the Philippines to notch only a goal more when Chandler McDaniel registered herself on the scoresheet in the 85th minute.

Pakistan next faces Hong Kong and the hosts Tajikistan on April 8 and 11, respectively.

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LAHORE: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) on Saturday announced a 22-member squad for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics Football Qualifiers, starting in Tajikistan next week. 

Goalkeeper-turned-midfielder Maria Khan, who replaced Hajra Khan as the national women’s team’s captain in August 2022, will continue to lead the side in the upcoming AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The squad comprises six forwards, seven midfielders, six defenders and three goalkeepers.

According to the details, the national women’s team will hold a three-day training camp in Dubai before flying out to Tajikistan on April 3 for the first round of the Olympic Qualifiers.

Pakistan will play their first match of the tournament against the Philippines on April 5. They face Hong Kong on April 8 before ending their campaign on April 11 with an encounter against home side Tajikistan.

26 Asian teams will participate in the first round of the Olympic qualifiers. They are divided into five groups of four and two groups of three teams.

The seven group winners from the first round will join Asia’s five highest-ranked teams – North Korea, Japan, Australia, China and South Korea – in the second round of the Paris 2024 Olympic women’s football qualifiers to be held in October.

The three group winners and one best-placed runner-up from the second round will play for the two spots for Paris 2024 Olympics in the final round to be held in November-December 2023.

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ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday urged the need to incentivize the football players and promote football in the country by adopting international best practices in the field of football.

In his meeting with the members of Pakistan’s national Men’s and Women’s football teams, at Aiwa-e-Sadr, President Alvi called for developing linkages with international partners and promoting public-private partnerships, besides providing better training facilities and coaching to the football players.

The Chairman of the FIFA-appointed Normalization Committee (FNC) for the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), Haroon Ahmed Malik was also present during the meeting along with other members.

Dr Alvi asked the FNC to speed up its efforts to streamline the issues related to football affairs in the country.

Welcoming the athletes, the president said that the sport of football was quite popular in Pakistan and there were millions of football fans in the country and the game should be promoted at the district and club levels, reported Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

He advised the athletes to make their country proud through their performance and work for improving the country’s image as they were Pakistan’s ambassadors in the field of sports.

The president remarked that he had high hopes from the players to lead Pakistan in regional and international competitions.

He regretted that the internal politics within the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) had affected its performance and expressed the hope that with the help of the FIFA-appointed Normalization Committee, there would be a visible improvement in the performance of PFF.

Haroon Ahmed Malik briefed the president that over 7 million people in Pakistan played football, and that FNC was making efforts to improve the functioning and administration of PFF through the FNC.

He informed that Women’s National Team played their first international game in eight years and Men’s National Team played their first international game in four years.

He stated that so far almost 4600 clubs from 163 districts of the country had been registered and the documentation and physical scrutiny process would be completed within the given timelines.

It was told that Men’s National Team would participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and Women’s National Team would play in the Olympics Qualifiers for Paris 2024 this year.

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LAHORE: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) announced a 34-member squad for the upcoming four-nation tournament in Saudi Arabia, former captain Hajra Khan excluded.

Hajra, who led Pakistan’s women’s team since 2014, was a part of the team that partook in the recently-held South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) despite being replaced by Maria Khan as captain.

Meanwhile, the veteran striker, however, has been dropped by the PFF for the national women’s team’s upcoming assignment as she is not included in the 34-member squad.

The 34 shortlisted players will participate in the training camp, scheduled to commence on December 8 to prepare for their second major assignment since the revival of football in the country.

The Green Shirts will feature in the four-nation tournament from January 11 to 19, the remaining three teams include hosts Saudi Arabia, Mauritius and Comoros.

Earlier, the green shirts participated in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF)  championship after an eight-year hiatus.

After losing to India and Bangladesh, Pakistan thrashed Maldives 7-0 to conclude their first international tournament on a winning note.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan women’s football team also marked their return to FIFA rankings after a six-year absence.

Following their reinstation in the rankings table, the green shirts occupied the 160th rank with a total of 928.4 points.

PAKISTAN SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Nisha Ashraf, Rumesa Khan, Hadiqa Zafar, Fatima Naz and Mafia Parveen.

Defenders: Malika e Noor, Eeshal Fayyaz, Eschal Sheikh, Mishal Bhatti, Nazalia Siddiqui, Sahar Zaman, Sahiba Sherdil, Sara Khan and Sophiya Qureshi.

Midfielders: Maria Khan, Alina Isphani, Alina Akram, Aliza Sabir, Amina Hanif, Ammal Khan, Anushey Usman, Marvi Baig, Rameen Fareed, Ruqqya Farheen, Sanober Sattar, Suha Hirani and Zehmina Malik.

Forwards: Nadia Khan, Aliya Sadiq, Anmol Hira, Kainat Abdul Ghani, Nadia Shams, Naqiyah Ali and Zoya Zeeshan.

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LAHORE: Pakistan women’s football team will travel to Saudi Arabia to partake in a quad-nation tournament, scheduled to take place in January next year.

According to the details, the Green Shirts will feature in the quad-nation tournament from January 11 to 19, the remaining three teams include hosts Saudi Arabia, Mauritius and Comoros.

To participate in the upcoming international fixture, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) will soon announce the schedule of the training camp.

It is pertinent to mention that this will be the second international engagement of the Pakistan Women’s team after the charge of FIFA’s nominated normalization committee took the charge of PFF.

Earlier, the green shirts participated in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF)  championship after an eight-year hiatus.

After losing to India and Bangladesh, Pakistan thrashed Maldives 7-0 to conclude their first international tournament on a winning note.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan women’s football team also marked their return to FIFA rankings after a six-year absence.

Following their reinstation in the rankings table, the green shirts occupied the 160th rank with a total of 928.4 points.

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KATHMANDU: Pakistan men’s football team had an unwanted return to international football as the side suffered a narrow 0-1 defeat at the hands of Nepal at the Dasharath Stadium here on Wednesday.

Pakistan put up a valiant fight in their first international match after a gap of more than three years as they kept their opponent at bay for the majority of the match.

The first half of the match ended with no goal from either side, while the rest of the match too, was nearing a goalless draw and Pakistan were sensing a draw on their return.

Anjan Bista, on the other hand, made a move inside the box in the 83rd minute, got on the end of a cross from the right, and broke the tie with a fantastic goal.

 

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It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) carried out a robust training camp for the players in Lahore under the supervision of head coach Shehzad Anwar.

Despite Pakistan’s defeat, football fans extended their support towards the national side.

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ZURICH: The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) reinstated Pakistan’s women’s team to the FIFA rankings table on Monday, after a six-year absence.

Following the national women’s team’s historic 7-0 victory over the Maldives in the recently-held SAFF Women’s Championship 2022, the football governing body has added back the national side to the rankings table.

Following their reinstation in the rankings table, the green shirts occupied the 160th rank with a total of 928.4 points.

It is worth mentioning here that the SAFF Women’s Championship 2022 marked the first tournament in which Pakistan was taking part after FIFA lifted the ban on the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) on June 29.

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LAHORE: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) on Friday confirmed that the national men’s football team will be touring Nepal for friendly matches in November this year.

According to the details, the squad for the Nepal tour will be announced in due course. The tour will mark Pakistan’s first international match after FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 2019.

36 national players were distilled down based on their skills and fitness. The shortlisted footballers trained here for six weeks.

The PFF, however, has called the players on November 3 for the second phase.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨

The Pakistan Football Federation is delighted to announce that the Shaheens are ready to take on Nepal in Mid November!

Final squad will be announced later. Time to back our heroes and support them in every way we can 📈#PakistanFootball #DilSayFootball pic.twitter.com/FfVYamcfhM

— Pakistan Football Federation (@TheRealPFF) October 13, 2022

Speaking on the occasion, the head coach of the national men’s football team, Shahzad Anwar, asserted that the shortlisted players are working hard to acclimate to the international standards by giving training their all from day one.

“Each footballer’s data has also been compiled using advanced technology. The players have also benefited from the experience of Brazilian physical trainer Rodrigo Estevez and goalkeeping coach Marcelo Costa,” he said.

“FIFA’s designated normalization committee is providing all possible facilities. Everyone is eagerly waiting for the international matches,” he added.

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LAHORE: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) set up a state-of-the-art Global Positioning System (GPS) system to train the national footballers for upcoming international commitments.

Commonly used for athletics worldwide, the GPS technology and VO camera will now be installed at the national footballers’ ongoing training camp here.

The newly installed technology would benefit the national coaches in evaluating and assisting each athlete in enhancing their fitness in accordance with their requirements.

VO camera assistance will also be used throughout the training. 36 players were shortlisted to prepare for the upcoming international engagements, who will undergo several workouts to improve both their physical and game-playing skills.

Details further suggest that the foreign physical trainer Rodrigo Steves put the footballers through an enduring VO2max test on Tuesday, which evaluated the data on the stamina and strength of the players.

Speaking on the occasion, the head coach of the Pakistan Men’s Football team – Shahzad Anwar – stated that the federation is paying attention to each player in order to improve their fitness and skills.

“We are trying to improve the abilities of each player by paying attention, for this purpose we are also taking help from the latest technology,” said Anwar.

“So, we are hoping that by improving the skills and fitness they will be able to prepare for important challenges, in the next phase there will be more physical tests, in the light of which each player will be given a training plan according to his needs,” he concluded.

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KATHMANDU: Defending champions India thrashed Pakistan women’s football team 3-0 to script a perfect start to their South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Championship 2022 campaign.

Pakistan women’s football side marked their return to the international circuit after a gap of eight years but had an unwanted comeback as the national team suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India in the opening match of the SAFF Women’s Championship 2022.

The national football side had a dismal start to the anticipated clash as an own goal from skipper Maria Khan handed an early lead to the rival team before an opportunistic strike from Dangmei Grace put India ahead 2-0 after the conclusion of the first half.

In the 29th minute, India had a chance to score again, but Ranjana’s left-footed shot hit the post despite beating Shahid under the bar.

The Indian side were dominant for the majority of the match but were not able to earn a series of opportunities.

Pakistan, on the other hand, were not able to break the shackles and seemed clueless against the ruthless attack from the Indian side and instead preferred to stay back and adopt the defending strategy.

Pounding on the situation, India’s Soumya struck in the extra time and extended her side’s lead to 3-0.

Following the victory against Pakistan, India’s women’s football team have extended their unbeaten run to 27 matches and will next play Maldives on September 10.

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