Pakistani football team visits Al Aqsa mosque

KARACHI: Pakistan football team players visited Al Aqsa mosque on Thursday and offered prayers ahead of their match with Palestine today.

According to details, players of Pakistani team were on their way to Al-Ram city after landing in Amman, Jordan when they visited the Al Aqsa mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam.

On Wednesday Pakistan team was received by the Executive Director of the Palestine Football Association (PFA) Firas Abu Hilal.

The friendly match is being played at Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium in Al-Ram.

A senior official of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) told ‘The News’ on Thursday that coach Jose Antonio Nogueira was confident to win. “I had a chat with the coach and he was confident. He said that the players’ morale was high and that they would give tough time to Palestine,” the official said.

“We have sent our team for exposure which is direly needed at this stage. It’s a blend of youth and experience and hopefully will put in their best,” the official said.

The match is part of PFF’s efforts to prepare a strong team for next year’s international assignments.

Squad: Yousaf Ijaz Butt (goalkeeper), Ahsanullah (goalkeeper), Umer Hayat, Arslan Ali, Naveed Ahmad, Zeeshan Rehman, Mehdi Hassan, Yaqoob Ijaz Butt, Adnan Yaqoob, Saddam Hussain, Umair Ali, Hassan Bashir, Muhammad Ali, Zain-ul-Abideen, Mahmood Khan, Naveed Rehman, Mansoor Khan Officials: Jose Antonio Nogueira (head coach), Mohammad Habib (assistant coach), Jose Roberto Portella Carneiro Filho (trainer), Mohammad Adnan (physio).