Pakistani Football talent spotted in Europe.

Coach George Kottan with Adnan.Courtesy Footballpakistan.com

Needless to say football has attracted alot of fans from Pakistan. Thanks to those european clubs people are totally crazy about , there is Champions league EPL and many more our fellow country men not only follow but also spend thousands of Rupees on. But is this fanaticism leading towards a brighter future or just giving our youth a few more reasons to love those countries? Answer is YES it has taken us atleast a few steps ahead of what we were an year or two back.

Recently i read a news about an international Coach namely George Kottan. Kottan born in Austria, has already started looking for Europe based Pakistani footballers. Now this is a very positive sign. Surprisingly as it turns out we have alot of Pakistani nationals who have been playing abroad to name a few Zesh Rehman (Bradford City FC), Kashif Siddiqui (Fresno Pacific FC ) and Adnan Farooq Ahmad ( Ferencvaros TC/ Budapest).

Pakistan is currently preparing for SAFF Championship which usually takes place after every 2 years. This year Bangladesh will be hosting the cup. Unfortunately Pakistan has never won this cup but as it appears from the effort of the coach it seems that Pakistan has a very solid chance this time. Kottan spotted young talent for the first time and hunted down three very young but according to him very talented players. He spotted Harun Bhatti (17-year old defender, Accrington Stanley FC), Yousuf Butt (19-year, goalkeeper,Hellerup IK/Copenhagen) and Bilal Butt (18-year, defender, Brentford FC).

He has already shortlisted Raees Ashraf (20-year old, striker, Leamington FC, Amjad Iqbal (28,defender, Bradford Park AVE FC), Zeeshan Rehman (26, defender, Bradford City FC), Kashif Siddiqui (23, defender,Fresno Pacific FC), Atif Bashir (24, defender, Bridgend Town FC and Adnan Farooq Ahmad (24, midfielder, FerencvarosTC/ Budapest) for the championship AND according to him Pakistan has the best defensive line up in South Asia.

But the most important thing is we might be able to win the SAFF Championship which i sincerely wish we DO but sadly i still see this team incompetent of performing with the best in the world because clubs and academies dont make up great players. Hard work does and you dont have to be from the best or the most respected country in the world of football to shine or out perform the best, you just need to have the right attitude and motivation and if i have to give a message to the youth of this country il just ask them to draw inspiration from the teams you support because there are always players like Berbatov and Adebayour who are neither from England nor from Brazil. But again there are other issues for us pakistanis to worry about too, because making a profession out of football in Pakistan is certainly an idea not supported by many parents .