Razor-sharp Ahmed takes Army into Challenge Cup final

KARACHI: Gloveman Ahmed Manzoor’s acrobatic show under the cage enabled Army to make it to the final when they defeated Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) 3-1 on penalty shootout in the second semi-final of the National Football Challenge Cup at Tehmas Khan Stadium, Peshawar on Friday.

At the end of the scheduled and extra-time, the match remained goalless draw. However, Army showed great discipline when it mattered the most, converting hundred percent penalties, while their keeper Manzoor saved two goals to end six-time champions KRL’s chance of fighting for the seventh title.

Manzoor saved shots from the spot from KRL’s Mohammad Shahid and Mohammad Fareed. KRL’s Iftikhar Ahmed’s drive from the spot sailed over the cross bar. Earlier, Umair Ali gave a good start to KRL on penalty shootout when he converted the first penalty with an enviable ease.

For Army, Nisar Ahmed, Najeeb-ur-Rehman and Mohammad Jameel converted their penalties. Army’s goalkeeping coach Jaffar Khan was happy with his goalkeeper Ahmed Manzoor’s terrific display under pressure.

“He is a young keeper from Faisalabad. We hardly recruited him three to four months ago. I have worked hard on him and he is getting stronger with the passage of time,” Jaffar told ‘The News’.

“He saved two good penalties. You know in tough situation when you play semi-final it always is tough to perform like this and credit goes to our keeper who made us proud,” said Jaffar, also a former Pakistan’s goalkeeper.

He was hopeful that Army would perform better against SSGC in the final. “The way we played today was encouraging. I am confident we will beat them (SSGC),” he said. The light disruption created big issues for both the teams and the match lasted for three hours.

“It really broke the tempo of the players,” Jaffar said. Earlier, in the scheduled and extra time, the match remained goalless with both sides making great efforts to take the lead but in vain.

Army will now face Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) in the final on Sunday (tomorrow). KRL will meet WAPDA on Saturday (today) in the third-place match.

The absorbing Army-KRL semi-final was supervised by Younis Lal. Shoukat Hussain and Anwar Khan served as assistant referees, while Qazi Asif was the match commissioner. The event is being held under the auspices of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) being headed by Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah.