LAHORE: A 20-member Pakistan football squad led by Saddam Hussain has been announced for the SAFF Suzuki Cup being held in Dhaka from Sept 4-15.

The squad leaves for Bangladesh on Saturday via Doha.

Hassan Bashir will be the deputy of Saddam in the seven-nation tournament.

In their opening match of the event, Pakistan face Nepal on Sept 4. Pakistan defeated Nepal in the ongoing Asian Games, which will work as a morale booster for Saddam and company in the SAFF Cup.

Pakistan play their next two group stage matches against Bangladesh (Sept 6) and Bhutan (Sept 8).

India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives are in the other group.

Squad: Umar Hayat, Mohammad Naveed, Faisal Iqbal, Zeeshan Rehman, Abdullah Qazi, Shehbaz Younis, Mohsin Ali, Bilawal-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Riaz, Ahmed Faheem, Saadullah, Mehmood Khan, Saddam Hussain (captain), Hassan Bashir (vice-captain), Mohammad Adil, Mohammad Adnan Yaqoob, Yousef Butt, Saqib Hanif, Ahsanullah, Mohamed Ali

Officials: Jose Nogueira (head coach), Mohammad Habib and Essa Khan (assistant coaches), Zahid Ali (goalkeeping coach), Roberto Portella (physio), Mohammad Adnan (physiotherapist).

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2018