Pak soccer captain to reach Lahore on 26th

KARACHI: Denmark-based Pakistan football team captain Hassan Bashir will arrive in Lahore on June 26 to join national team’s camp in connection with preparations for this summer 18th Asian Games and SAFF Championship.

“I will arrive in Lahore on June 26,” Hassan told ‘The News’ from Denmark on Wednesday. His first task would be to apply for the renewal of his Pakistani passport.“I am coming to Pakistan a bit early because I want to renew my passport,” the striker said. In the meantime he will also join the training camp which resumed on Wednesday after a week-long break for Eidul Fitr.

Hassan plays for Greve Fodbold, Denmark’s second division club. Pakistan’s Denmark-based striker Mohammad Ali and goalkeeper Yousuf Butt also play for the same club. Ali and Yousuf are expected to join the camp by the middle of July and so is Adnan Mohammad, a Danish Superliga midfielder who is also on the radar of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF). Adnan is expected to make his debut for Pakistan in SAFF Cup, which is slated to be held in Bangladesh from September 4-15. The Asian Games would be conducted in Indonesia from August 18 to September 2.In the Asiad players below 23 years of age, along with three seniors, can be fielded while in the SAFF Championship a completely senior lot may be fielded.

Former Pakistan’s captains Zeeshan Rehman, who plays for Hong Kong club Southern, and Kaleemullah, who plays in Turkey, also aim to represent Pakistan, particularly in the SAFF Championship.

After short-listing around 60 players in the National Challenge Cup in Karachi in May, national team’s camp began at Lahore on May 25 under the Brazilian coach Jose Antonio Nogueira. Brazilian trainer Jose Portella is also busy in enhancing the players’ fitness.

A team official told ‘The News’ that the strength in the camp has been reduced to 36. A few more players will be dropped in few days to bring down the strength further. A team official said that around 30 players would be taken abroad, most probably Bahrain, for friendly matches ahead of the Asian Games.