Women’s football team aims for semis

Pakistan captain hopeful about team’s chances in SAFF Championship.

KARACHI: The Pakistan team is aiming for a semi-final berth as it gears up for the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women Football Championship that starts from December 12. This is the second time that Pakistan women will participate in the SAFF football championship and captain Sana Mehmood feels the squad has a good chance against the seven competing teams.

Pakistan take on Nepal, Maldives and Afghanistan in Pool B, while Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan will be competing in Pool A. The best two teams from each group will play the semi-finals.

“We’ve a young team and we are confident that we’ll make it to the semi-finals,” Mehmood told The Express Tribune. “Although the team is inexperienced, we can overcome sides like Maldives, who are playing for the first time. So I don’t see why we can’t perform well after one-and-a-half month of training with our coach Tariq Lutfi.”

According to Mehmood, the squad has worked very hard on their coordination. “Each player is brilliant but the biggest challenge for them has been to learn about playing as a group and finding the best combination against the opponents,” said Mehmood.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2010.