Chairman of Muslim Hands Pir Syed Lakht Hasnain vows to support Street Children
Abdul Jabbar Faisal
ISLAMABAD: The Chairman of Muslim Hands, Pir Syed Lakht Hasnain vowed to continue full support of the Pakistan Street Children Football Team, which won silvers medals in the Norway Cup 2023, as well as to establish football academies in the country to uplift the standard of soccer in Pakistan. Muslim Hands would also give education, and recognition to other unknown street children.
The silver medal team arrived here on Monday at Islamabad International Airport and were warmly welcomed by the local players, parents of the boys, and officials of Muslim Hands, Later, in the afternoon the players visited the National Press Club (NPC) to attend the ceremony that was held in their honour.
Chairman of Muslim Hands Pir Syed Lakht Hasnain said:
“Pakistan team earned the second position in the tournament, which is a great honour for Pakistan. Muslim Hands managed all the needs of players to make them international players. We selected the players from all over the country on merit. Our coach Rasheed Ahmed did not compromise on merit and picked up the squad after a strict process. We hold camps all over Pakistan. We are satisfied with the performance of the players, as the Pakistan team scored 28 goals in the tournament and conceded only three goals”.
“Although, our young guys were well prepared for the event and they toiled hard in the camp in the dog days of June/July, however, they were not familiar with playing in European conditions, as the pitches were wet in some matches. It was difficult for our players to give a hundred percent in such type of weather. We are happy with the team’s results. We claimed second position three times back-to-back, as we were runner-ups in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, and were third in 2024 in Brazil.”
“During the tournament, the excitement was visible in the Pakistani community in Norway, due to the excellent performance of our team, Norwegians also became fans of the Pakistani team and were supporting our lads. I came from England to welcome the team. A total of eight matches were played in the cup, seven of which were won by the Pakistani team, while only in the final match Pakistani team played brilliantly throughout the match and finally lost on penalty kicks.”
Captain Tufail Shamari said:
“Our team played well in the tournament and we lost the final of penalty kicks, as the match was leveled 1-1 during the regular time. Our team went 0-1, and I scored a goal to bounce back in the gold medal battle. However, our luck was not good and we lost the final after 10 penalty kicks in the sudden death phase. We were provided nice facilities during the trip and being a leader of the Green Shirts I am pleased with the players’ performances. Our player Asad Nasir from Islamabad got the award of the best defender of the tournament, which is a great respect and honour for the whole nation.”
