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1st SAFF Women Championship: Sana appointed new captain of Pakistan Women football team

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Lahore, 7 December: Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)’s President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat has approved National Champion Young Rising Star’s captain and central defender Sana Mehmood as new captain of Pakistan National Women Team.

Pakistan will appear in the eight-nation First SAFF Women Football Championship that will begin on December 12 in the tourist resort of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The host is placed in Group A along with SA Games champions India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan while Pakistan are bracketed in Group B with Nepal, Afghanistan and Maldives. Two top teams from each of the two groups will play in the semifinal.

Daughter of Tanvir Mehmood, Sana, 21, took over the captain’s arm band from midfielder Ishrat Fatima of Lahore’s Sports Sciences Department (Punjab University) who captained Pakistan at Dhaka’s Bangabandhu National Stadium earlier this year in five-nation League of 11th South Asian Games 2010. Ishrat is also in the squad. HEC’s Asmaa Usman, also 21 and daughter of Usman Ghani, will act as Sana’s deputy.

The 18-player squad for the First-ever SAFF Women Championship 2010 had already been finalized. Young Rising Star’s Asmara Habib, HESCO’s Naila Rani, and Diya FC’s Marium Laghari will earn international cap for the first time while other 15, including Sana, have already represented Pakistan in 11th South Asian Games.

Sana Mehmood is only female footballer of Pakistan who lifted the National title twice. On both occasion Young Rising Star FC edged out Pakistan WAPDA in 2008, 2010. She was bronze medalist in 2009. YRS is a team organized by the US Embassy in Pakistan as part of a 2007 State Department Youth Enrichment Program (YEP) and they won the National Championship in second attempt a year later. She also visited Washington DC to experience soccer in the United States, a tour arranged by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Sports United office from 9-18 April 2009.

Pakistani team is comprised of Sana Mahmood (Young Rising Star) Captain, Asmaa Usman (HEC) VC, Syeda Mahpara, Malaika Noor, Asmara Habib, Sahar Zaman (Young Rising Star), Shumaila Sattar, Naila Rana, Humera Nazir, Nadia Bhatti (WAPDA), Mehwish Khan, Hajra Khan, Marium Laghari (Diya FC), Shahida Ghulam Raza, Shelyla Baloch (Balochistan United), Mejzgaan Orakzai, Abeeha Haider (Islamabad), Ishrat Fatima ( Sports Sciences). The stand byes are Roshnan Ali (Young Rising Star) and Afshan Altaf (Sindh).

Group of Young Rising Star FC. Sana Mehmood standing fourth from right

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19 Comments

  2. Well done Sana & keep it up and prove that our ladies are good in all feilds.Cangratulations to Mr Shahid and all concerned for this achievement.

  3. Ready to be thrashed by Indian women. Indian women football team are undisputed champions among SAFF countries. you have to accept it.

    1. I find women’s football to be a waste of time and effort because the men’s game itself is far from anything special and needs a lot of attention. So I will not be surprised if our girls come back without a single point/goal from this tournament. Its a start up sport.

      Anyhow, I wish our team the best and yeah I expect India to win the tournament without a problem.

        1. But compare the quality of the Maldives women’s team to their men’s team.

          The men’s game is much different, and I still don’t give a rat’s ass about the women’s game.

  4. miss Sana remember its Pakistan ur representing and not young rising star .
    you are all one. be proud to represent ur country and be humble and certainly allah will reward you.

  7. Sana will try to get another medal in her cabnet from this event. she is 21 and has 2 gold and 1 bronze medal in national events so i expect her leadership will certainly put something extra in the team. hope for the best. our women have won gold in cricket in China (where was India at that time) so we should hope something similar again.

  8. hey captain,,, it gives me immense pleasure and honour to see u at this point, u lead us in the championship and we won Alhamdolillah, now lead the national team nd m so sure we ll be gr8 this time InshAllah, dad nd mum r giving u their love nd best wishes for the team,,, we are all proud ov u,,, may u guys rock AMEN nd may u kick india’s butt!!

  11. i am so proud of you all
    Congragulations Sana!
    MashAllah we won today against Maldives, and will continue to do
    lots of love to you all! :D

    Lets pray for the teams excellent performance
    thankyou to the brilliant coaches we have!

  12. thankiu… 0n the be-half of my-self and whole team for ur both gud and bad commentzz.. cuz gud commentzz will make us believe that we will do it and bad commentzzz will make us do dat…. anywayzzz… plz pray for r further victory 2…. Abiha Haider… jersy N.o 14… Defence… Pakistan womens Football Team

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