Street child team draw second match

After winning Norway Cup opener 10-0, Pakistan tie 1-1 with Melhus IL

KARACHI: Pakistan’s street child team continues to lead their group at the Norway Cup despite drawing 1-1 against local football club Melhus IL on the second day of the competition in Oslo, Norway yesterday.

Pakistan had begun their campaign at the biggest youth football tournament in the world with a stellar performance, defeating Tertnes Fotball Herrer 10-0. However, they faced tricky opponents in Melhus IL.

The team consists of players who won the bronze medal at the 2014 Street Child World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.



They will need to finish at the top of their Group B — which has three other sides — to advance to the knockout stages.

So far, Pakistan are leading with a massive goal difference of 10 and are likely to make it to the next round.

“Melhus IL remains undefeated since last year,” team manager Itfan Maqbool told The Express Tribune. “We need to be more tactical in our last group match and make sure that we carry on the momentum. We know that the tournament will only get tougher from this point.”



Maqbool added that with the event featuring 2,199 clubs in different age-categories this year, competition is tougher as compared to the last edition due to the presence of more teams and better players from across Europe.

Pakistan will play Sykkylven IL today in their last pool match.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2016.

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