By Malik Riaz Hai Naveed, Founder FootballPakistan.com
Army’s Malika Noor took the award for the best player in this years Women Championship. Now Pakistan’s number 10 is in Bahrain for a international friendly series. We have talked to Malika.
1- What is the first football experience you remember?
MN- The first experience I had was in the US when we had an exchange program there through american embassy. We played with different teams and that was the first experience where I learned a lot.
2- Do you feel more competition on the ground because being a girl?
MN- As such when you enter the ground you don’t think about anything else but the game. I do as much as I can and as football in Pakistan is in midde level still under development, we do our best in grounds, we use our strength, every inch of it.
3- If you could choose, what will be three steps to change women football in Pakistan?
MN- First I would say that on local level tournaments should be arranged. We can have new talent from this. Secondly: we have to make sure that there is selection from those teams for the national team so that we can have young new talent. And last but not least: friendly matches should be arranged for better practice and experience. That will bulid confidence in players too.
4- Tell us how you keep yourself fit.
MN- During training we have to be so carefull about our diet so that we won’t gain weight and besides that I take my diet(breakfast, lunch, dinner) at exact time and eat no extra calories.
5- The SAFF Cup is coming to Pakistan, who do you think will be the toughest opponent and why?
MN- All the teams are good in the SAFF cup as they all are international teams. But for us India and Nepal would be tough opponents because they have more experience than us and they have been playing for long time. But on the other side we will also give them a tough time because now we have also experience and have international exposure too.