Soccer in Pakistan

The football in Pakistan has in the shadow of the much more popular sports cricket and hockey in a difficult position. Cricket had in British India already established in the lower class than on the subcontinent in 1880 the development of football and rugby began. Both sports could therefore not prevail against the popular cricket. The sport, on the other hand, is very popular with young people. So far, major successes have only been achieved in insignificant competitions.

The Pakistani Football Association

The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) was founded in Lahore on December 5, 1947 after independence from Great Britain . In 1947/48 a state championship was held, which was won by Sindh Red .

Today's Bangladesh belonged to the state and association territory as East Pakistan until 1971 . After Bangladesh gained independence , Pakistan lost two formative football strongholds, Dhaka and Chittagong . Today's football regions are Karachi and the Punjab Province .

Recently, Pakistani football has seen a boom. A national professional league was introduced in 2004. In 2007 Lahore hosted the AFC President's Cup .

The national association is currently realizing various youth programs. An academy for the most talented local U-14 players was opened in Karachi in 2003. Training camps for under-16s are held in Lahore and Peshawar.

Pakistani national team

The Pakistan national team took first at the qualifications for 1990 FIFA World Cup a run for the FIFA World Cup , but resigned already made in the qualifying round. In the subsequent World Cup tournaments, too, Pakistani football did not get beyond the qualifying rounds. The players in green shared the same fate in the Asian Cup .

Only with final victories against Bangladesh (1: 0) and the Maldives (2: 0) in the soccer tournament of the regional South Asian Games could the national team win titles.

The U20 junior selection attracted attention by winning the AFC U-19 qualifying tournament in Sri Lanka in 2000.

Pakistani club football

In 2004, under PFF President Mahkdoom Syed Faisal Salah Hayatder , a nationwide national league , the Pakistan Premier League (PPL), was established for the first time . The competition, which is carried out with 16 teams, can only be held to a limited extent between July and October due to the monsoon season .

A cup competition has been held since 1990, but has only been held irregularly so far.

Pakistani teams were unable to convince either in the AFC Cup or the AFC Champions League . Only the fact that national champions WAPDA FC reached the semi-finals in 2009 at the AFC President's Cup made people sit up and take notice .

Women's soccer

A separate championship in women's football has only been held since 2005 .

The German Monika Staab was hired as an association trainer to establish a national team. 2012 saw the first women's international matches. In three games there were two defeats and one win (against the Maldives ).

literature

Hardy Greens : " Pakistan: Waiting for the Children to Grow Up " in World Football Encyclopedia. Europe & Asia ”, Verlag die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89533-576-1