AKU Championship: NED, Ziauddin, Hamdard, MAJU record wins

Organised by the Aga Khan University (AKU) Sports & Rehabilitation Centre at the AKU Football Ground, the 9th AKU Inter-University Football Tournament 2011 saw the results 5 games in Day 7 of its competition on Sunday, 10 April 2011.

In Group 'C', IBA United held Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology (SSUET) 1-1. After a goal-less first half, Hunbal bin Sohail gave IBA United the lead in 45th minute, which Kamran Aslam of SSUET equalised barely 4 minutes later. Both sides earned 1 point each with the scores remaining tied at the end.

In Group 'D', Ziauddin University (ZU) romped to a 7-0 win over Liaquat National Medical College (LNMC). ZU's main star was Shoaib Ahmed who scored a brilliant hat-trick (1', 34', 37') to register the eighth hat-trick of the on-going tournament. Talha Chaudhry (33' and 35'), Syed Ali Bazil (1') and Asad Sheikh (36') also scored for ZU in the game.

Another Group 'D' encounter saw Hamdard University (HU) beat PNEC-NUST 3-1. Yasir Lashkari gave Hamdard the lead after just 1 minute, with Sir Syed scoring Hamdard's second just a minute after Yasir's goal. The score was 2-0 in HU's favour at half time. Shazi Tahir managed to score for PNEC-NUST in 38th minute but Yasir Lashkari scored his second of the game in 43rd minute that made Hamdard win 3-1 at the end.

In Group 'A', Muhammad Ali Jinnah University (MAJU) scored a 2-0 win over Jinnah Medical & Dental College (JMDC) after 0-0 score at half time. Hamza Ahmed scored both the goals for MAJU in 50th and 54th minutes.

In the other Group 'A' clash, defending champions NED University scored an easy 6-0 win over PAF-KIET as they continued their great form in the competition. Areeb Ali (3' and 24'), Rafay Fahim (8'), Jaleed Aslam (7') and Khurram Shakeel (26') gave NED an imposing 5-0 lead at half time. Rafay Fahim scored his second of the game in 2nd half (42') to complete the easy 6-0 scoreline for NED.

The matches were supervised by Referees Naseer Umar, Khalid Mumtaz, M. Yousuf, and Imran Hussain, with Official Scorer Sajjad Akbar and Match Commissioners Munawar Khan and Qamar Ali.

NBP Fooball Cup to start next week

KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Football Cup 2011, formerly known as National Challenge Cup, will be held at two different venues in Faisalabad from April 14 to 27 as the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) announced draws on Friday for the 16-team extravaganza.

This is the second major spectacle in the domestic slots after the Pakistan Premier League which takes centre stage with a bulky flux of encounters. As per draws, the sixteen teams have been placed in four different groups. Group A carries WAPDA, Navy, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Ashraf Sugar Mills while Group B contains KRL, PAF, HBL and ZTBL. PIA, KPT, Police and PTV have been adjusted in Group C while KESC, Army, Railways, and PMC have been bracketed in Group D.

The event will be held on round robin and the two leading teams of each group after group stage competition will move into the quarter-finals which will be held from April 21 to 23. The semifinals will be conducted on April 24 and 25 while the final will be held on April 27. The match for the third place will be held on April 26.

The event will be held at the Bohranwali Ground Club Road Jinnah Bagh and the PMC Football Ground simultaneously. The matches will start at 2:00pm and 4:00pm respectively.

One of the prime clubs of the country Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) will defend the title and Pakistan head coach Tariq Lutfi, who has joined KRL only few days back as head coach cum consultant after getting retirement from PIA, will serve as head coach of the defending champions.

The national champions WAPDA will field their second string in the competition as their senior team will leave for Kathmandu on April 18 to feature in the AFC President’s Cup Group C slots at the Dashrath Stadium from April 20 to 24.

Hosts Punjab Medical College (PMC) will be coached by former Pakistan coach Akhtar Mohiuddin who joined it more recently.

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Essa, who will reach Faisalabad from his hometown in Chaman on April 13, will lead KESC while another former Pakistan captain and experienced gloveman Jaffar Khan will lead former national champions Army during the tournament.

Six current FIFA referees, two former FIFA referees and eleven national and local referees will supervise the spectacle.

Fixtures: April 14: PAF v HBL. April 15: ZTBL v KRL, KPT v Police, PTV v PIA. April 16: WAPDA v Ashraf Sugar Mills, Bahawalpur, Navy v NBP, KESC v PMC, Army v Railways.

Faisalabad retain Punjab Games title

Lahore, 9 April: Holders Faisalabad staged recovery to beat Lahore 2-1 in the final of 71st Punjab Games Football Tournament at Kotha Pind’s Raiders FC Ground, Faisal Town, Lahore on Saturday morning. It was second consecutive win for Faisalabad in the event. They also defeated the same rival in the final at Model Town Football Academy Ground, Lahore four years ago.

According to President of Lahore District Football Association Mian Rizwan Ali all the seven matches of three-day football event were allotted to Raiders FC Ground at Kotha Pind, Faisal Town, Lahore following a tremendous All Punjab Raiders Cup recently.

The three goals of the final were recoded in the first half while second session remained barren. Imtiaz coached-Faisalabad conceded 28th minute goal when Lahore’s striker Fahad Tariq punished keeper blunder but they drew level through penalty kick in the 35th minute converted by midfielder Basit Naeem. Five minutes Sahiwal outkicked Multan 4-3 on penalties to win bronze medals. 

The final was supervised, under Match Commissioner Chaudhry Abdul Rasheed, by Afzal Bari, supported by Irfan Aslam, Mehr Shabbir and 4th Official Muhammad Anwar.

Punjab Olympic Association (POA) organised Games participated by nine regions of Punjab including Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Sahiwal, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala, Dera Ghazi Khan and Sargodha.

"The friendly atmosphere prevailed throughout the duration of the Games, which is concluded with the hopes of bringing the all districts of Punjab together. The districts share a common history and culture, with many people on every side of the districts related to one another," said Rizwan Ali. Earlier in semi-finals, Lahore beat Multan 4-2 and Faisalabad overran Sahiwal 2-1

Full Results

7 April: Multan 1 Gujranwala 0, Sahiwal 1 Dera Ghazi Khan 0, Faisalabad 3 Sargodha 2
8 April: ( semi-finals) Lahore 4 Multan 2, Faisalabad 2 Sahiwal 1
9 April: Final : Faisalabad 2 Lahore 1 ¾ : Multan 1 Sahiwal 1 ( Sahiwal won 4-3 on PSO)

PEL’s Asghar shows guts as Pakistan football talent hunter

Lahore, 8 April: Pak Elektron Limited (PEL), who will play their fourth season in Pakistan Premier League 2011 from June, contributed a number of players to the Pakistan football team, including Muhammad Adil, Alamgir Khan, Ehsan Ullah who represented Pakistan in 4th AFC Challenge Cup last month, and Asian Star Safi Ullah. Besides appearance in Pakistan Premier Football League from 2008 to 2010, Lahore-based PEL actually created a nursery for the Pakistan football taking over the responsibility from Crescent Textile Mills’s Allah Dita Awan who was known for digging out players from villages and far-flung areas.

The man behind the scene of PEL fine work is Asghar Khan Anjum, a qualified coach who assisted George Kottan in SAFF Championship 2009 and played again European team Moldova in his playing days. Rahim Yar Khan-born Asghar talent-hunted several stars on Pakistan soil and all the PPFL teams are now filled with the players produced by Asghar in his all out spell.

PEL’s former Safi Ullah Khan became only player in Pakistan soccer history to score four goals in an international fixture and rose further into limelight when he finished as leading marksmen of third AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier 2009. Muhammad Tauseef Ahmed, who struck a goal against Palestine in Lahore Test recently also emerged from PEL. Goal keeper Saqib Hanif, midfielder Waheed Hameed who helped PEL in snatching tenth spot in PPFL 2010, will now play for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited in coming 21st National Bank Cup (NFCC) at Faisalabad. In the same way, PEL’s leading scorer Saad Ullah in PPFL 2010 will represent titleist KRL in coming NFCC.

“When it comes to producing star booters, PEL is clearly at the top. It is clearly the soccer nursery and players from this organization went on to wear national color. PEL is known for producing a tremendous quantity of fine footballers and one can judge also that PEL’s former players Rahim and Shahid Ali are now central defenders of former National and NFCC Champion HBL. But talent alone is not enough to become an outstanding player, as extraordinary levels of preparation and development are also needed. The infrastructure, facilities of sports were utilized under tremendous vision of Asghar Anjum,”said PEL’s Director Operation Murad Saigol “Of course PEL offers its own football school,”

Murad believes the man from Rahim Yar Khan will remain a huge success at PEL. He is a elegant coach with immense visualization of talent hunting and one of the most exciting young coaches in Pakistan presently. His style and ability will give any team a different dimension and I’m sure he will be a popular with the team and fans in future too.”

“We need to keep developing our game and our players.” That was the vision, thinking of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)’s President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat right from 2003 and a year later he created the PPFL that broaden the pool of top Pakistani footballers. Tasked with developing the football in efficient, long and short term strategy throughout the whole country, his steps meet successes, and the team that provided more and more players regularly to PFF and Pakistan is PEL who joined Faisal-led country’s ruling body in top ranked event in 2008, after winning PFF League 2007.

The 23 players produced under PEL’s coach Asghar Anjum and now attending other organizations are Aqeel Ahmed, Kamran (Railways), Tauseef Ahmed, Basit Ghafoor, Haider Ali (WAPDA), Jalil Ahmed, Safi Ullah Khan, Abid Ghafoor, Muhammad Adil, Muhammad Bilawal, Ehsan Ullah, Jahanzeb, Saad Ullah (KRL), Rahim, Shahid Ali (HBL), Saqib Hanif, Waheed Hameed ( ZTBL), Ali Raza (PMC Athletico), Asad Ullah, Alamgir Khan (Police), Muhammad Sher, Muhammad Bilal, Muhammad Usman (PAF).

AKU Inter-University Football: NED hammer MAJU 12-1

Organised by the Aga Khan University (AKU) Sports & Rehabilitation Centre at the AKU Football Ground, the 9th AKU Inter-University Football Tournament 2011 saw the results 3 games in Day 4 of its competition on 7 April 2011.

In Group 'C', the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science & Technology (SZABIST) overcame Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology (SSUET) in a tight afair 1-0. Waleed Rashid's 49th minute goal proved to be enough for SZABIST as they maintained their positive start to the AKU Championship.

In Group 'D', Ziauddin University (ZU) had to fight hard against Hamdard University (HU) to win the game 3-2 at the end in an entertaining affair. Shoaib Ahmed gave ZU the lead after just 4 minutes, but HU's Sir Syed equalised in 13th minute. However, Shehzad Afzal gave Hamdard a 2-1 lead in 24th minute as the scorelines remained in favour of HU at half time. Second half saw Ziauddin fight back with Talha Chaudhry making it 2-2 in 59th minute before Shoaib Ahmed scored his second of the game to make it 3-2 in 63rd minute. The scores remained same at the end to give ZU a vital win.

Perhaps the most stunning result of the day was defending champions NED University's 12-1 demolition of Muhammad Ali Jinnah University (MAJU) in Group 'A'. A devastating four-goal burst each from Umer Mumtaz (4', 23', 26', 55') and Areeb Ali (60', 62', 64', 65') stunned MAJU who had taken an early lead through Khalil Ahmed after just 3 minutes. Further goals from Rafay Fahim (19'), Danish Ali (49'), Khizer Khan (71'), and Jaleed Aslam (68') completed the record-breaking 12-1 rout in favour of NED at the end.

The matches were supervised by Referees Naseer Ahmed, Khalid Mumtaz, Abdul Wahid, and Shaukat Ali, with Official Scorer Sajjad Akbar and Match Commissioner Munawar Khan.

On Saturday (9 April 2011), four matches will take place. NED University face JMDC at 12:30 PM, BMU face PNEC-NUST at 2 PM, SZABIST face IBA United at 3:30 PM, and hosts AKU face DUHS at 5 PM.

FPDC Preview: National Football Challenge Cup ’11, Faisalabad

The magic of cup football can see epic David beat Goliath battles. Minnows in 90 minutes can upset giants. A champion effort from one athlete can earn him glory over a more consistent adversary. This is the beauty associated with knock-out football that will be on show as the 21st NBP National Football Challenge Cup ’11 kicks off from the 14^th of April, at the Manchester of Pakistan i.e. Faisalabad.

The Pakistani version of the famous English FA Cup through the 14^th to the 27^th of April will see the 15 top department football sides and the host team PMC Athletico Club Faisalabad fighting it out for the 2^nd most coveted trophy in Pakistani football.

And the venue is perfect for this showpiece event. Known as the long-ball capital of Pakistan, Faisalabad has produced top footballers for the National team throughout history. The current captain of the National side, Samar Ishaq, hailing from the city is a testament. Faisalabad also houses the PMC Athletico club side that is one of if not the top football club in Pakistan. The club president, Rai Saif Ur Rehman Bhatti, is a diehard football promoter and fan. On getting hosting rights of the event he expressed his joy and exclaimed, ‘’the Challenge Cup is coming home.’’.

The format for this year’s cup is a sees the inclusion of a first round group stage. The 16 teams will be grouped in 4 groups of 4 teams with the top two qualifying to the Quater-Finals. The knock-out stages will be held at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium. It is ironic how while cricket leaves the venue empty, football looks to get it full and to serve its purpose.

The sides taking part this year are defending Champions Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), National Champions WAPDA, Pakistan ARMY, NBP, KPT, PIA, Pakistan NAVY, KESC, HBL, PTV, PAF, Pakistan Police, Pakistan Railways, ZTBL, Ashraf Sugar Mills and PMC Athletico.

Favourites for this year’s title are definitely the impressive KRL side. Champions in the last two editions, the now Tariq Lutfi boys will look to make this a hat-trick of titles. The feat will be made easier as National Champions WAPDA are focusing on the AFC President's Cup later this month and will only send their Multan region (MEPCO) side for this competition.

Eyes will also be on competitive sides representing Army, Navy, PAF and KESC who will be hoping to pull a surprise come the NFCC. Eyes will specially be on KESC who many believe have under-achieved in the PPL this season even though they had the services of ex-international skipper Muhammad Essa, striker Muhammad Rasool, goalkeeper Muhammad Omer and the young Muhammad Riaz Ahmed in their ranks. Zabe Khan (Director Football, KESC) needs to ensure the side realizes it’s potential under renowned coach Hassan Baloch.

One side who will be an unknown quantity coming up into this tournament and capable to spring a surprise will be the host side PMC Athletico Faisalabad. Coached by one of the top coaches of Pakistan in recently appointed Akhtar Mohiuddin, PMC will be backed by the local support and will definitely enjoy home crowd support. Akhtar's surprising decision to coach PMC Athletico has been a source of shock and surprise across the football realm of Pakistan. The former national team head coach from Chaman is regarded at par with Tariq Lutfi as being the top coaches ever produced by Pakistan.

Captained by Pakistani Football legend Haroon Yousaf - himself a former NFCC winner with WAPDA and the now-defunct ABL football team -  PMC Athletico will also be the first club in history to play in the National Challenge Cup as it has only seen department’s play thus far. Their success might pave the way for other clubs to play in coming years.

We at FootballPakistan.Com will like to see the Faisalabad public coming in thousands to see this tournament. A centralized venue with the cream of Pakistani football talent on display is a true football fans dream. We will cover the event in great detail at the website and on the Facebook pages. Come on fans, let’s have fun enjoying OUR own FA Cup

FIFA referees to supervise National Challenge Cup matches

Lahore, 7 April : Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) 's President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat has directed the current FIFA Referees of Pakistan to supervise the 21st NBP National Football Challenge Cup to be played from 14-27 April 2011 at PMC Ground, Faisalabad

All the Referees of various categories are being asked to report to match Commissioner/Referee Assessor for Physical Fitness Test on 13 April 2011 at 3 PM at Faisalabad’s PMC Ground.

The 19 referees posted for the coming National Bank Football Cup are :

FIFA (6): Khurram Shahzad (Kohat), Rana Naseer Ahmed (Faisalabad), Shahid Hussain (Okara), Rana Jehanzeb (Multan), Shafaat Habib (Rawalpindi), Waheed Murad (Lahore)

Ex-FIFA (2): Jehangir Khan (Quetta), Imtiaz Ali Shah (Peshawar)

National/local (11): Muhammad Adnan (Okara), Irfan Aslam (Faisalabad), Arsalan Sharif (Karachi), Zahid Iqbal (Faisalabad), Irfan Shoaib (Faisalabad), Usman Aamir (Faisalabad), Muzamal Hussain (Faisalabad), Waseem Aslam (Faisalabad), Umair Sarwer (Faisalabad), Adeel Anwar (Faisalabad), Arshad-ul-Haq (Sheikhupur)

Karachi Zone West to hold U16 trials from 10 April

In preparation for the Syed Liaquat Ali Shah Memorial Football Tournament, named after the late Senior Vice Chairman of Karachi Zonal FA West who died last month, 8 teams of U16 age bracket will take part from Zone West region.

2 teams from Baldia Town, and one each from Kemari, Mauripur, Orangi, Banaras, Old Golimar, and Garden will be taking part in this memorial tournament for U16 teams.

Secretary West Rahim Bakhsh has directed the members of Zone West to prepare teams for this tournament. Baldia Town resident and member Zone West, Iqbal Minhas, has been named coordinator for the event while former international Ayub Alam will head a selection committee that will supervise the trials. Other members of the selection committee include international star Farooq Shah (NBP), Saleem Faiz, and Fazal Baloch.

Open trials will be held from 10 April 2011 from 3:30 PM onwards at Young Noorani Ground, Baldia Town No. 7. Players born on or after 1 January 1995 will be allowed to take part in trials for their selection. All aspiring players are requested to bring their 'B' Form to prove their ages and report themselves to Iqbal Minhas for taking part in trials.

The top 3 teams from the Syed Liaquat Ali Shah Memorial Tournament will then represent Zone West in the KESC U16 Football Tournament to be scheduled in coming months

AKU Inter-University Football: BMU beat LNMC 6-1, BUITMS stun hosts AKU 1-0

Organised by the Aga Khan University (AKU) Sports & Rehabilitation Centre at the AKU Football Ground, the 9th AKU Inter-University Football Tournament 2011 saw the results 3 games in Day 3 of its competition on 6 April 2011.

In Group 'D', Baqai Medical College (BMU) smashed hapless Liaquat National Medical College (LNMU) a resounding 6-1, after being 3-0 up at half time. A brace each from Attaullah (19' & 23') and Rafiullah (13' & 69') as well as goals from Murtaza Ghazi (56') and Shaz Zafar (62') completed the rout for BMU. Muhammad Ashraf managed solitary goal for LNMU in 48th minute.

In another Group 'D' encounter, PNEC-NUST beat Ziauddin University (ZU) 3-0 after a goal-less first half. Abdul Rehman (46'), Muhammad Hamza (64') and Najam Shah (65') scored in 2nd half to give PNEC-NUST their first win of the campaign.

In Group 'B', hosts Aga Khan University (AKU) were stunned to a 0-1 defeat at hands of gutsy Balochistan University of Information Technology & Management Sciences (BUITMS) team. An unfortunate own goal by AKU's Moiz Salahuddin in 24th minute was enough for BUITMS to battle out a narrow 1-0 win at the end.

The matches were supervised by Referees Naseer Ahmed, Khalid Mumtaz, Abdul Wahid, Javed Bangash, while Official Scorer was Sajjad Akbar and Match Commissioner was Munawar Khan.

On Friday, 8 April 2011, 3 more matches will be played in the tournament. At 2 PM, Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) will face BUITMS, IBA-Reserves face Institute of Business Management (IoBM) at 3 PM, while Hamdard University face LNMU at 5 PM

PFF announce format for 2011 National Challenge Cup

Lahore, 6 April : Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has announced Competition System for the National Bank Football Cup to be played from 14-27 April 2011 at Faisalabad.

According to PFF Operation Cell, the Competition shall consist of two stages: Group Stage (league system) and Knock-out Stage (quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals)

The sixteen teams in Group Stage shall be divided into four groups of four teams each with three points will be awarded for a win, one point for a draw and zero point for a loss.

The Organizing Committee for 14-day show divide the teams into groups by drawing lots during 13th April Manager’s meeting at 5 PM, whilst taking sports, geographic and economic factors into consideration, as far as possible.

The teams in the four groups shall be designated as follows:

Group A : A1,A2,A3,A4
Group B : B1,B2,B3,B4
Group C : C1,C2,C3,C4
Group D : D1,D2,D3,D4

The following match sequence applies (the number designates the position drawn in each group on 15 April Meet) with matches to be held from 14 to 21 April 2011.

1st Match day: 1 v 2, 3 v 4
2nd Match day: 2 v 3, 1 v 4
3rd Match day: 1 v 3, 2 v 4

The teams ranked first and second in each group qualify for the quarter-finals and the eight teams that advance from the group stage shall contest quarter-finals on 22, 23 April as follows:

Winner A v Runner-up D (I)
Winner D v Runner-up A (II)
Winner B v Runner-up C (III)
Winner C v Runner-up B (III)

The four winners of the quarter-finals will qualify for the 25th April semi-finals as follows :

Winner I v Winner III (E)
Winner II v Winner IV (F)

The losers in Matches E and F will play bronze medal match on 26 April while the winner of Matches E & F will appear in 27th April Final.