Pakistan street child football team's squad has been announced for the Norway Cup 2024 which is scheduled to start from July 27.
According to the press release, the squad is selected from the training camp which is currently taking place at Sports Complex in Islamabad.
The national team will depart for Oslo, Norway on July 25. They will begin their group matches on July 28, with the first match against Norway's Astor Football Club.
Three months prior, trials for the Norway Cup were conducted nationwide by the Pakistan Street Child Football Team's administration, attracting thousands of young participants.
The squad includes forwards Mohammad Kashif, Isa Khan, Shahid Anjum, Abdul Ghani; midfielders Mohammad Junaid, Mohammad Khan, Daniyal, Owais, Mohammad Osama; defenders Asad Nasir, Ubaidullah, Mohammad Adeel, Hamza Gul; and goalkeepers Aryan, Adeel Ali Khan.
A press conference was held at Islamabad Sports Complex today, supported by the Prime Minister's Youth Programme, ahead of Pakistan's street child football team's participation in the Norway Cup 2024.
The conference featured discussions with the national street child football team captain Mohammad Adeel, coach Mohammad Rasheed, Prime Minister's Youth Programme Chairman Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, Country Head of Muslim Hands Pakistan Syed Zia-ul-Noor, Executive Director of Muslim Hands Pakistan Syed Javed Gilani, and other officials.
Captain Mohammad Adeel stated that the team is fully prepared for the Norway Cup, with daily practice sessions enhancing their skills. He expressed hope that they would return to Pakistan as champions.
This will be the fifth time that Pakistan will participate in the event. They finished second in 2015 and 2023, and third in 2016.
It must be noted here that the Pakistan team finished runners-up in the Street Child World Cup in Doha, Qatar in 2022. They remained unbeaten throughout the tournament but lost the final against Egypt on penalties (4-3).
They were also the runners-up in the previous edition in Russia (2018), meanwhile, in Brazil (2014) they finished third.
It is worth mentioning that in Norway Cup 2023, Pakistan lost the final on penalties 10-9 against Sola FK. They were undefeated throughout the tournament and defeated all the teams they faced by big margins.
Pakistan scored a total of 28 goals in Norway Cup 2023 and conceded only three and proved that they are capable of not just winning the matches, but winning them with a high score line.
With impressive display in the last edition, once again, a great campaign can be expected by the Pakistani team as they would be eager to lift the title after coming so close last year.
