RAWALPINDI, Dec 6: Wapda maintained their supremacy defeating Army on their home ground to clinch the Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) title here at the Army Sports Stadium on Saturday.
The huge crowd gathered to back Army also failed to put the much-needed pressure on the visitors as they won the final 1-0. The game which began with two equally-matched teams, saw Wapda sending shivers among the soldiers by striking the goal in the 37th minute. Jamshed Anwar, substitute midfielder, curled the corner from the right wing and it was stopper Ishfaq in a jersey bearing the number 25, who rose above everybody and headed in the ball into the goal.
The match then took an aggressive turn with Army looking for revenge but they failed to make an impression on Wapda’s defence line. The second session saw them running out of stamina as they missed several easy passes.
Wapda’s captain Arif, in jersey No 11, missed an open chance in the 61st minute when the ball went over the cross bar.
The soldiers became rather rough with only a few minutes remaining in the match. Army’s coach went for a change in the last 10 minutes when they changed jersey No 28 with jersey No 7 in the hope of a miracle but to no avail.
After winning the PPFL title for the seventh time, Wapda’s skipper Arif told Dawn: “It was really a team effort that we were able to thrash Army on their home ground ... most of our guys were unfit but our target was to lift the championship trophy.
Wapda had earlier won the league in 1983, 1991, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007. They have become the national championship’s third successful team with seven titles, after table-topper Pakistan International Airlines (nine titles) and Punjab (eight titles). Karachi lifted the title six times while Pakistan Army collected the title four times. Allied Bank Limited (ABL) and Balochistan won the top berth thrice, followed by two-time champion Dhaka, Sindh, Pakistan Railways, Faisalabad’s Crescent Textile Mills. Peshawar, East Pakistan, Chittagong, Habib Bank Limited, Quetta and Air Force have managed to win the national event once.
The deciding league match was supervised by Imtiaz Ali Shah and supported on the line by Mohammad Saleem, Mohammad Ali Jr under Match Commissioner Qazi Mohammad Asif. Tahir Pervez was the fourth official.
With the win, Wapda also earned a passage into the 5th AFC President’s Cup qualifier 2009.
