WAPDA clinch Pakistan Premier League

Departmental side lift trophy for the eighth time.

KARACHI: Wapda clinched the Pakistan Premier League when they defeated Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) 2-1, its eighth national title which also allowed the team to qualify for the Asian Football Confederation President’s Cup next year.

After a dull first half, Zulfiqar Ali Shah scored the first goal of the match in the 59th minute and Khuda Bakhsh doubled the lead three minutes later, a lead that proved unassailable despite Asim Faiz’s 75th-minute consolation for SSGC. The win ensured they reached the 64-points mark off the 26 matches played.

Wapda had lifted the title in 1983, 1991, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008.

“It’s an honour.” Wapda coach Khalid Butt told The Express Tribune. “We had an aim – to win the title – even though we were not as physically fit as a team should be. Although we have won the most prestigious football title in the country, I still feel that the players and coaches are taken for granted.

“My players are extremely exhausted now and the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has also engaged the departments in the National Games which is clashing with the league matches.”

Khalid said that the clash will affect his team and they will have to constantly travel between Karachi and Peshawar for two weeks which will physically and mentally exhaust the players. However, now that Wapda had won the title, according to the coach, the team’s next target is winning the National Games that will begin from December 25.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Army defeated Habib Bank limited (HBL) 2-0 with goals from Muhammad Imran in the second minute and Imran Hussain in the 65th minute of the match. Army now sits third on the table with 49 points and will look for the second spot in the next two weeks which is occupied by Karachi Electricity Supply Corporation, just one point above Army.

In another match, Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) outplayed National Bank of Pakistan 2-0 with Muhammad Qasim scoring in the 18th and 81st minute of the match.

The bottom two teams at the end of the tournament will be relegated to the Pakistan Football Federation League with the top two from there slotted into PPL.

Published in The Express Tribune,  December 13^th, 2010.