Boys from various poor communities practised at the Ibrahim Hyderi Stadium in Karachi yesterday aiming to make the Pakistan squad for the 2014 Street Child World Cup in Rio. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS
Pakistan began the final phase of their preparations for the SCWC with a match among the selected children from the communities of Ibrahim Hyderi, Sheerin Jinnah Colony and Sultanabad.
The match was also observed by the SCWC co-founder Chris Rose, who said that Pakistan has football talent and their zest for the sport will take them a long way in the competition.
The SCWC will feature 20 countries in Brazil where the neglected youth that lives on the streets will represent their nation at the event that is aiming at giving an identity to these children in the society.
“The aim of the SCWC is to empower these children and give them the sense that they are somebody,” Rose told The Express Tribune. “I’ve interacted with the players; all of them either want to be [Cristiano] Ronaldo or [Lionel] Messi.”
The preparation of the Pakistan team has been taken up by the Azad Foundation.
Indonesia, defending champions India and Philippines along with hosts Brazil, Argentina, Tanzania, and Liberia among others will also field players belonging to the same background.
Azad Foundation representative Itfan Maqbool said that the criteria for choosing players will be based upon a child’s experience living homeless and their rehabilitation process besides their football skills, which will be accessed by the coaches.
Pakistan will send a nine-member U16 boys’ team to Brazil while the SCWC will feature teams in the seven-a-side format.
“This ground is bigger which will help Pakistani players in Brazil as the pitch will be smaller,” said Rose.
Meanwhile, 15-year-old Owais Rehmet said that he became interested in football a year and a half ago. The sport also kept him away from drugs after taking refuge in the shelter.
“I ran away from home when I was seven,” said Rehmat. “I lived on the streets in Saddar for almost four years. One day I got into trouble and went to a shelter, I started playing football as well, and now I live with my mother.”
The next selection will take place in Lyari, which is the oldest football-playing community in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 4th, 2013.
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