Army, WAPDA reach National Football Challenge semis

KARACHI: Defending champions Army beat Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) 3-0 in penalty shootout to make it to the semi-finals of the National Football Challenge Cup 2020 at Lahore on Monday.

In the other quarter-final, WAPDA defeated SA Gardens 3-0. In the first quarter-final, Army kept their nerves to beat a well-balanced side of KRL 3-0 in penalty shootout after the match ended 2-2 in regulation time.

In a tensely-contested game, Army went ahead in the 20th minute thanks to Ali Raza’s solid goal. However, Mudassar brought parity for KRL in the 55th minute. Highly experienced striker Ansar Abbas made it 2-1 for the soldiers in the 72nd minute. Mudassar scored his second goal in the 83rd minute to once again bring parity. This stalemate pushed the game into extra time in which neither side could strike. And then the show entered into penalties. KRL missed their first three penalties while Army scored all their three they took to emerge victorious in style.

A brace from Ashfaquddin (5th minute, 56th minute) and a strike from Ihtisham (90+5’) enabled WAPDA to beat SA Gardens 3-0. Army will take on WAPDA in the first semi-final. The two remaining semi-finalists will be decided on Tuesday (today) when Higher Education Commission (HEC) play Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) take on Pakistan Air Force (PAF).