KARACHI: The Paki­stan women’s football team will return to international action after over a year when they take part in the SAFF Women’s Championship later this month, with the Pakistan Football Federation Norm­alisation Committee announcing the squad for the tournament in Nepal on Sunday night.

Pakistan last featured in a six-nation tournament in Saudi Arabia last September where they finished fifth.

At the SAFF Champ­ionship, Pakistan have been drawn alongside India and Bangladesh in Group ‘A’, where they will be looking to avenge defeats to both sides in the last edition of the tournament two years ago.

Pakistan’s previous appearance at the regional tournament marked the team’s return to the international stage after a long exile. They fell to a 3-0 defeat against arch-rivals India before being thum­ped 6-0 by Bangladesh although they ended their campaign on a winning high by trouncing Maldi­ves 7-0.

This tine around, they face India in their opener on Oct 17 before squaring off against Bangladesh three days later with the top two finishers from the group advancing to the semis.

The squad features prominently players from Karachi City FC, which won the National Women’s Championship this year. Adeel Rizki continues as coach of the national team.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Nisha Ashraf, Mafia Parveen and Rumaysa Khan; Defe­nders: Kayla Siddiqui, Mishal Bhatti, Sarah Khan, Nizalia Siddiqi, Sophia Quershi, Fatima Nasir and Mehreen Khan; Midfielders: Suha Hirani, Maria Khan, Sanah Meh­di, Amina Hanif, Rameen Fareed and Kayanat Bhokari; Forwards: Nadia Khan, Zahmena Malik, Isra Khan, Anmol Hira, Anushay Usman and Alia Sadiq.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2024