PFF names probables for World Cup qualifiers

Five foreigners feature in the 42-man list.

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has announced the names of 42 probables for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and the second leg of the bilateral series with Palestine.

According to coach Tariq Lutfi, the federation has shortlisted the players based on their performances in the domestic tournaments.

The list also includes four UK-based footballers Atif Bashir Qureshi, Zeeshan Rehman, Adnan Farooq Ahmed and Hassan Bashir as well as Danish midfielder Nabil Aslam.

The camp will commence from May 6 in Lahore and will be used as a tool to prepare a team for the matches against Palestine that will be played on May 24 and 27 in Ramallah. Following the two matches, Pakistan take on Bangladesh on June 29 and July 3 in the World Cup qualifiers.

“Our aim is to balance the team with experienced players and young footballers,” Lutfi told The Express Tribune. “That’s why we have also called the players from other countries.

“The team will consist of young players but we need the experience of Rehman and Bashir and we also have some variety in the form of Aslam who has been playing league matches in Denmark. We will not be using the entire under-21 squad like we did earlier.”

Local players to get equal chance

According to Lutfi, the coaches and management are closely looking at the players in the ongoing National Championship in Faisalabad to make sure that the locals also get a fair chance to make it to the national squad.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2011.