KARACHI: Police created history by defeating Pakistan Air Force (PAF) 3-0 in the final of the tournament at Ayub Stadium Quetta to win their maiden National Games men’s football title.
In a jam-packed venue, on Sunday, the police performed brilliantly to outclass the PAF coached by Pakistan head coach Shahzad Anwar.
Muhammad Haneef gave Police the lead in the 14th minute while Muhammad Wase doubled the lead in the 20th minute and scored his team’s second and third goals in the 75th minute to seal a resounding win.
Earlier, Police lost 0-1 to PAF in their group game.
After the victory, Police coach-cum-manager Sardar Rahim said he was happy with his team’s first crown at the Games.
“I am very happy today. It is a well-deserved victory,” Rahim told JEE News.
“You know, I make the team myself. For this event, we took six players from Peshawar, four from Punjab and the rest from Balochistan.
“We lost 1-0 to PAF in our league show and today we came up with a special plan against them which paid dividends. We marked their top players and in the process three Scored goals,” he said.
PAF coach Shehzad Anwar said that his team wasted opportunities. “It was a good game but I will give credit to the police who played really well and converted their chances. We squandered our chances in the beginning as well as in the end,” he said.
“It has been my experience that when you beat a team in the league group, they will beat you in the knockout stages,” said Shahzad, an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) licensed coach.
Meanwhile, Balochistan’s men’s team defeated Army 4-2 in a penalty shootout to clinch the bronze medal.
The game remained scoreless in regulation and overtime.
However, Balochistan kept their cool in the penalty shootout, scoring four goals and conceding just two to finish on the podium, a rare feat in the presence of departmental teams investing heavily in their brigade.
Balochistan captain Rajab Ali is happy with this achievement. “You know the Army was a tough team but we did well in all areas,” Rajab told JEE News.
“In the penalty shootout, we did very well. Credit goes to our goalkeeper Yasser who made two diving saves that turned the tables.
“It’s a great moment for us as a provincial side, not a bad effort to give a strong department a tough time,” Rajab said.
Meanwhile, Army were crowned champions of the women’s football event after defeating WAPDA 4-3 in their final crucial game.
Army, who were 3-1 down at one stage, staged a brilliant comeback, scoring three goals in a row to secure a big win.
Sanobar scored two goals in the 5th and 11th minutes to give WAPDA a 2-0 lead. Aqsa reduced Army’s deficit in the 38th minute and WAPDA were leading 2-1 at half-time. Eleven minutes into the second half, WAPDA once again put Fatima 3-1 ahead and it looked like it would be extremely difficult for Army to bounce back.
But they proved everyone wrong and scored three goals to seal a stunning 4-3 win and thus the title.
Al-Aqsa scored the second goal for Army in the 57th minute before Ramin equalized with a goal in the 60th minute. Zarina scored the biggest win for her side by hitting the winner in stoppage time.
