Pakistan Women to Meet India in Football Semi-Final

Adil Najam

Update: India wins against Pakistan 8-0 in the semi-finals. Details here.

The Pakistan Women’s football team is set to meet India on Monday in the semi-finals of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) tournament being played in Bangladesh.

On the way to the semi-finals the Pakistan women’s football team scored its first ever goals in an international match when Mehwish Khan scored in the group match against the Maldives (in 44th minute) and then Malaika Noor in the 89th minute from a penalty. The 2-1 victory against the Maldives was Pakistan’s first international victory even in women’s football. This was followed by a 3-0 victory against Afghanistan which gave Pakistan a slot in the semi-finals.

Playing against Nepal (photo above) – one of the two tournament favorites, the other being India – Pakistan women got a major drubbing losing 12-0, including a stint of 6 minutes in which four goals were scored against Pakistan. However, reaching the semi-finals remains a major achievement. Although they are now pitted against the tournament favorites India, they are still in the medal run and we wish the Pakistan women’s football team the very best.

With the Pakistan women’s cricket team now has a string of achievements behind it and Pakistani women are also making their mark in athletics. It is great to see our women footballers blazing their own trail. Here is a news report on the Pakistan women’s football from last year Dawn News: