Two men’s national team footballers Shayek Dost and Junaid Shah have returned from the Afghanistan Champions League to play in the National Challenge Cup on Thursday.
Left-winger Shayek Dost was playing for Abu Muslim while left-back Junaid Khan was playing on loan for Wahidi Paktia FC in the third season of the Afghan Champions League.
Both players have returned to play for their respective football departments in the National Challenge Cup with Shayek Dost representing Wapda and Junaid Shah playing for SA Gardens.
National Challenge Cup is currently going through its group stages and today the round of matches for the third day will be held at the Pakistan Sports Complex training ground.
According to sources, Pakistani players are earning approximately Rs 2,00,000 lacs in the Afghanistan Champion League for the season.
It should be noted that the Afghanistan Champion League will be held from April 20 to May 20 and around nine Pakistani footballers gained contracts for the third edition of the league.
As per reports, the national training camp for the FIFA World Cup qualifier preparation against Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan will begin on May 15.
Stephen Constantine has already reached Pakistan to assess the players in the premium football cup competition of the country and he will likely call up some talented players for the training camp of the national team if he identifies the players who have international-level quality.
It is yet to be seen whether or not, Shayek Dost and Junaid Shah will return to the Afghanistan Champions League following the conclusion of the National Challenge Cup on May 12.
Pakistan will face Saudi Arabia on June 6 at the Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad for their FIFA World Cup qualifier tie in the Group G of Round 2.
