Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan football squad left for Bahrain on Tuesday for a series of practice matches scheduled before the upcoming Asian Games and SAFF Cup. The players departed from Lahore included Waseem Asghar, Adeel Ali, Yousuf Ahmed, Mohsin Ali, Mohammad Sohail, Arsalan Ali, Mohammad Umair, Ali Khan, Muhammad Riaz, Ahsanullah, Mehdi Hassan, Shehbaz Younus, Mohammad Usman, Sadullah, Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Ahmed, Ahmed Faheem, Mohammad Adil, Naveed Ahmed, Mehmood Khan, Bilawal ur Rehman, Yousuf Ejaz, Sadam Hussain, Mohammad Danial, Abdullah Qazi, Hassan Basheer. Coaching staff and officials Jose Antonio Nogueira, Jose Portella, Mohammad Habib, Chaudhury Noman Ibrahim and Mohammad Aslam were also with the squad. “Brazilian coach Antonio and trainer Portella were training the talented bunch of players in Lahore. Now the national squad will play four practice matches in Bahrain. The team will return on July 31,” said a spokesman for the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) yesterday.

After a long time, Pakistan will return to international circuit in the 18th Asian Games scheduled in Indonesia from August 18 to September 2. After the Asiad, the national team will return home and will then leave for Dhaka for the SAFF Cup to be held from September 4 to15. PFF president Syed Faislal Saleh Hayat said: “Coaching staff has a good opportunity to test the players selected for Bahrain tour. We are ready to take every positive measure to groom our players for all future challenges. The PFF hopes this tour will prove beneficial for the squad,” he concluded.

Published in Daily Times, July 18^th 2018.