By Ali Ahsan
It all happened so fast. One day, Jennah Farooki was doing the typical high school study and training sessions at home. The next day she must take a whirlwind trip to Doha to represent the Pakistan women’s national football team (WNT).
“It was all surreal how I became a part of the Pakistan squad [for the Saudi friendly]. We had to fly the next day after I got my Pakistani passport straight to Doha just in time for the game,” said the 17-year-old Pakistani American from Long Island, New York.
Jennah was joined by her father, Asim Farooki, from their East Meadow home on Zoom to talk about becoming the WNT’s newest addition. Jennah spoke with a maturity beyond her years with her father adding key details about her life and progress as a supportive pillar by her side.
On December 7, 2024, Pakistan faced Saudi Arabia in a women’s international friendly at the Aspire Academy Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Trailing 1-0 at halftime, Pakistan WNT coach Adeel Rizki decided to make Jennah Farooki replace Nisha Ashraf in goal for the rest of the game.
Fans instantly noticed her composure dealing with clearances and back passes, a testament to Jennah’s well-drilled goalkeeping at her varsity and academy teams back home. Being able to organize the defence and be comfortable with the ball at any time is something Pakistani football always lacked in both the men’s and women’s teams.
Whatever the Saudis threw at Jennah, she handled with ease to ensure her new team remained in the game. Pakistan eventually fought back thanks to a late Suha Hirani Olimpico goal as the closely contested friendly finished 1-1. “That goal was insane. I thought it was going out but when it went in, it stunned everyone including me.”
“The moment coach Adeel Rizki told me to start warming up before half-time, I realized that it was finally happening. I felt totally excited and totally nervous at the same time. I had to compose myself as soon as I took my position in goal to help my team keep fighting,” beamed Jennah when describing her Pakistan WNT debut.
“It was probably the proudest, and most anxiety-ridden, moment of my life when I saw Jennah represent my country of birth that night. Some Pakistan supporters in the crowd noticed me being restless, asking if I was okay. I had to tell them that the goalkeeper who just got subbed on for Pakistan is my daughter!” said the Sialkot-born Asim.
The Beginnings
A medical sector professional, Asim moved permanently to the U.S. at a young age where his own father practiced medicine. “I come from a family of Pakistani doctors. Like all desi Pakistani kids growing up in America, I eventually chose the healthcare industry as well. But we’ve told our kids they can be anything they like, and we are fully committed to support them no matter what.”
Jennah is also considering the medical profession, but she did express how soccer became her true passion growing up. “My parents put in me in anything they could find as a little kid. Dance class, softball, you name it. None of them I liked. But the moment I played soccer, I instantly fell in love. I played with girls and boys my age, sometimes with kids much older than me. One day, I was made the goalkeeper mainly because I was not afraid of getting hit in the face while other kids absolutely hated it. Turns out, I was pretty good at stopping shots and making saves!”
The local coaches soon realized little Jennah enjoyed being goalkeeper. Aged 9, she joined NCE Soccer’s New York academy as a goalkeeper where she continued to develop rapidly. Her father described how Jennah is quick to learn from coaching and readily follows through on her training by giving her 100% effort on and off the field.
America’s Youth Soccer Experience
Youth soccer in the U.S. is extremely widespread to girls and boys of all ages in local communities, especially in suburbia for many decades now. While it introduces many young kids to the sport, its ‘pay to play’ model means some hyper-competitive parents view their little kids’ success at the sport like an investment that demands quick returns.
The Farookis, like many parents, simply wanted Jennah to play the sport as a passion and help her grow both as an athlete and as a person. Being a rare brown desi kid in a largely white suburban environment naturally made Jennah stand out from her peers. But that didn’t stop her from showing her worth, no matter what challenge or off-putting remark she came across.
“My family has always been there for me, no matter how tough the situation got both on and off the field. They have helped me focus and succeed at times when I felt lost or unsure,” as both Jennah and her father described challenging times when at 13-14 years old, she was not getting played enough or faced some snarky remarks from people much older than her.
During that time, attending a local youth goalkeeping clinic would dramatically change things. Among the coaches present was Adam Janowski, the founding director of Long Island Goalkeeper Academy (LIGA). A Hofstra University men’s soccer alumnus, Poland-born Adam Janowski is a professional accountant and a dedicated trainer of young goalkeepers, many of whom have gone to play college soccer. Adam spotted Jennah at the meet and got her into LIGA to sharpen her goalkeeping skills to a whole new level.
At the same time, the East Meadow High School girls’ varsity team needed a new goalkeeper. Their coach decided that Jennah, despite being a good year or so away from entering High School, was impressive enough at junior levels to get into the varsity team. He persuaded the school administrators to allow Jennah to join them by 8th grade, immediately becoming a starter as the team’s results drastically improved. And all this was happening during the COVID pandemic peak of 2020-21.
By 2022, Jennah attended a New York City FC Academy talent ID camp where a former youth coach of her’s spotted her and made her join one of the girls age group teams, becoming a starting goalkeeper there too. She earned county-level awards for most saves and regularly being among the best young goalkeepers in the region.
In 2023, she was among nine highly talented female goalkeepers at LIGA that were taken on a training camp to Spain under Janowski’s mentorship, training with women’s youth teams of FC Barcelona, Girona FC and RCD Espanyol. “Yeah, that was a grueling summer for us. The kind of pre-season training they do in Europe is tough and physical. I got a lot of bumps and bruises. But it was also the most fun I’ve ever had on the field,” beamed Jennah.
In 2024, she got invited by FCNE to be their goalkeeper at Sweden’s prestigious Gothia Cup, an annual youth tournament for boys and girls. Asim added, “Jennah had been trying the Gothia Cup for almost 5 years but finally in 2024 she got her wish!”
While Jennah was good at training with players much older than her, she was also good at spending time with kids younger than her. The coaches soon made her coach the younger age groups, who would eagerly look up to her during practice because they could relate with Jennah much easier than a much older coach.
Pakistan Calling
It was also in 2023 that she discovered Pakistan’s WNT. Curious, she reached out to their goalkeeping coach Ahsanullah Khan on social media. He immediately got back to her, requesting match footage and documentation status. A former Pakistan MNT backup goalkeeper turned coach, Ahsanullah flagged Jennah to WNT coach Adeel Rizki and captain Maria Khan – herself a Pakistani American. They were impressed as the WNT wanted to add further quality in the ‘keeping department.
But that was a moment when the women’s side had again gone into a year-long hiatus where they couldn’t play any FIFA international friendlies due to budgetary constraints at the Pakistan Football Federation. So, they advised her to continue working on her training and get her Pakistani documents sorted out for eligibility. Pakistan WNT finally returned in late 2024 and Maria reached out and encouraged Jennah to start getting ready for a potential call-up.
That’s when the Farooki family got caught in Pakistan’s cumbersome red tape. Asim experienced it first, “I had to make a Pakistani ID card for myself before Jennah could apply for her own. So, we all went to the Pakistani Consulate in New York City. When we told them that Jennah was applying for these documents to play for the Pakistan women’s football team, the consulate staff looked puzzled and asked, ‘Pakistan has a women’s football team?’”
It took a while, but both got their NICOPs. But when time came for Jennah’s Pakistani passport application, the process hit a roadblock. “They told us there’s a major snag in the system and that we should basically got to Pakistan and apply for the passport in the country. We literally booked an immediate flight to Lahore just for it.”
The last time Asim Farooki was in Pakistan was in 2010. The 2024 trip couldn’t have come at a worse time. Political protests in November had essentially shut down the whole country, making inter-city travel difficult. But somehow, the Farookis got Jennah’s passport application sorted in Pakistan. Now they had to wait for its delivery before Jennah could join the WNT as they would only confirm her selection if she had her passport in hand.
The bureaucratic limbo of previous months meant Jennah was not eligible for October’s SAFF Women’s Championship in Nepal. Pakistan finished 3rd in a tough group featuring former winners India and defending champs Bangladesh. Thankfully for the Saudia friendly, she was ready.
It was at this moment the occasion almost got the better of her. “I got really scared before we flew, even thought about quitting because it was becoming so overwhelming. But my dad calmed me down and we went through with it because this was what we had worked on for over a year now.”
Already used to training with players much older than her, Jennah may have been the youngest in the squad, but she showed full focus and dedication to the task at hand, “The WNT staff and players were so welcoming when I got introduced and were impressed by my efforts in training. That instantly put my mind at ease. I made a lot of friends in the team as well.”
Future Prospects
Expected to graduate from East Meadow High School in 2025, Jennah said that she is exploring a bunch of NCAA DI offers from upstate New York and California, “I am weighing my options and hopefully wherever I join I can make the starting goalkeeper spot my own.”
When asked about the future opportunities with Pakistan, including the 2026 AFC Asian Women’s Cup qualifiers in mid-2025, Jennah Farooki wants to participate. “Playing for Pakistan was the greatest moment of my life. I really want to continue being part of the team in any capacity. Even if I am second choice, that doesn’t matter because I want to always be there for the girls.”
Her father concurred, “She has been proving so many wrong her entire young life. Making that Pakistan debut is the icing on the cake.”
Here is hoping that we get to see the Pakistan women’s team in action throughout 2025 and beyond. A full-strength squad, with the best available Pakistani players from home and beyond, have the chance to make magic on and off the field. Hopefully with someone as young as Jennah Farooki, our long-term goalkeeping problems are likely sorted for now.