LAHORE, Nov 11: Pakistan football team left here on Friday for New Delhi to take part in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-17 soccer championship qualifiers. The event will be organized from Nov 13 to 17 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium instead of Dr. Ambedkar Stadium.

Wohaib Club stopper Muhammad Ahmed is the skipper, while Abbas Ali is Ahmed’s deputy.

India, Pakistan and Tajikistan were clubbed together in Group ‘G’. The winners will qualify for the final in Singapore next year.

A total of 41 teams entered the qualifying competition for the AFC Under-17 championship. They have been divided into 14 qualifying groups.

The 14 group winners will join the hosts Singapore in the final round. The best runners-up in the three ASEAN groups will meet the best runners-up from the East Asian groups to decide one additional spot.

The competition, which is held every two years, also serves as a qualifying tournament for the FIFA Under-17 World Championship for which AFC is given three berths for Asian teams.

The FIFA Executive Committee meeting held on March 8 in Zurich, gave Korea hosting rights for the 2007 FIFA Under-17 World Championship.

Pakistan squad:

Muhammad Ahmed (Captain), Abbas Ali (Vice-Captain), Ali Ishtiaq, Atif Hussain, Rai Akmal Shahzad, Safdar Hussain, Zaid Arif, Adil, Shoaib Qasim, Shahzad, Fareed Baloch, Jahanzeb, Ehsan Ullah, Muhammad Irfan,Wasim Jan, Hikmatullah, Fahad Ullah Khan, Zohaib Khan.

Officials: Lt.Col. Yunus Changezi (manager), Muhammad Shamim Khan (coach), Zafar Iqbal (assistant coach).

Schedule:

Nov 13: India vs Pakistan

Nov 15: Pakistan vs Tajikistan

Nov 17: India vs Tajikistan.—PPI