KARACHI: Pakistan striker Zulfia Nazeer is excited after making a comeback in the national women’s football team for the tour of Singapore.
Zulfia was on the sidelines for around 10 months due to a knee injury she suffered during the SAFF Championship in Nepal last year.
“I really excited and grateful to be back. I think I out was nine to 10 months due to injury but what motivated me and kept me going was the progress I made on a daily basis. It was a difficult period for me but time flies and now I’m back Alhamdulilah,” Zulfia said while talking to Geo News.
She also lauded the national women’s team for putting up a good show since their return to the international arena.
“I was so happy with the way the team performed during the Olympic Qualifiers and the Saudi Arabia trip,” she said. “We can make significant progress in the game if we continue playing international matches. We are getting better with every passing game.”
“The coaches and the management also deserve credit for doing their job in a professional manner,” she added.
The forward also stressed the importance of consistency when it comes to making progress as a team.
It must be noted that Pakistan missed various international events since FIFA banned the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) twice during the past few years.
“As long as there is no gap, I think we will make good progress because consistency is important. We can even improve our rankings,” she said. “When there is a gap, players don’t know if they should continue playing football as a career and it makes lives difficult for them.”
Pakistan women’s football team will leave for Singapore tomorrow (Sunday) instead of today.
The schedule was changed since there was no flight available from Karachi to Singapore on Saturday. The team will now leave for Singapore via Lahore tomorrow morning.
The women’s team’s departure was initially delayed due to late issuance of No Objection Certificate (NOC) and visas.
The girls in green were scheduled to play two friendly matches against Singapore but, due to aforementioned delays, they will only be able to play a single match on July 18.
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.