Pakistan Announces 36-Man Football Training Camp

The Pakistan Football Federation has announced the commencement of the national football training camp tomorrow in Lahore as the team is set to compete in mega events this year, including potential friendlies next month.

The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has named 36 players for the men’s national senior football team camp, which is scheduled to begin from Thursday. The aim of the training camp is to prepare the players for a series of upcoming international commitments, including the SAFF Cup in Dhaka in June and the World Cup qualifiers at the end of the year.

The players will start gathering in Lahore from Wednesday, with some arriving on Thursday. The training will commence on Thursday evening at the City School Lahore, which serves as the main training center of the national team. The selection includes some fresh faces and others who were previously part of the national camp ahead of Nepal’s tour but were later excluded.

Head coach Shehzad Anwar expressed his aim to groom this group of players ahead of the major events and to build a robust team. The camp’s strength will be reduced after a few weeks of training, and there is a possibility of pausing the camp during Ramadan. He also told that an invitation has been received from Thailand, and there are plans to leverage different options to help the team prepare well for major assignments this year, including SAFF Cup and World Cup Qualifiers.

The coaching staff is composed of Mohammad Habib, Zahid Taj, Marcelo Costa Schroeder, Rodrigo Esteves dos Santos, Ali Khan, Dr Adnan, Dr Azam, and Abdul Qayyum. The training camp will consist of five goalkeepers, 16 defenders, ten midfielders, and five forwards.