August 05, 2008	Tuesday	Sha'aban 2, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 4: D.D. Chaudhary Road in Lyari was renamed as Ali Nawaz Baloch Road as a mark of respect to the living football legend, Ali Nawaz Baloch, on Monday.

Bearing its pre-partition name up until now, the road that begins from the Gaddani bus stop runs past the popular Azam Khan Hotel and the spacious three-story Sheedi Arabi Mosque.

Speaking to Dawn at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, Ali Nawaz Baloch, who also captained the Pakistan national football team in the RCD Cup from 1974-80, said that it was his wish that the road where he was born, be named after him and that too in his lifetime. “I’m grateful to Town Nazim Mahmood Hashmi and Naib Nazim Abdullah Abdul Rahim for having taken the decision,” he said.

The footballer who is also a 1996 President’s Pride of Performance recipient, besides playing for the national team and winning several matches also played professional football for the Dhaka Mohammadans during the late 1960s as well as the Emirates Club in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Ali Nawaz played at the centre-forward position. He is remembered for scoring several hat-tricks during matches. His triple hat-trick against a Middle-Eastern outfit while playing for the Dacca Mohammadans is still remembered by lovers of the sport.

The former player, who had also been offered nationality by the UAE, returned to Karachi in 1980 after forming a UAE team that he had also played for and coached for some five years. He remained vice-president of the Pakistan Football Federation for 16 years beginning in 1986 and as manager of sports in the PIA also coached his department’s football team.

The Sheedi Arabi Mosque situated on the newly-named Ali Nawaz Road according to the football legend, “…shared a common wall with our family home on this road.”