Pakistan Crowned Champions After Beating Afghanistan in Diamond Jubilee Football Tournament Final

Shayak Dost struck a superb goal in the first half to put Pakistan on track for a comfortable 2-0 win against Afghanistan in the Diamond Jubilee International Football Tournament final at the National Football Stadium.

This is a great achievement for the Pakistan football team, as they won the senior men’s international final for the first time since the 1991 South Asian Games, where they also beat Maldives 2-0.

It is also a historic moment, as this is Pakistan’s first solo tournament title since they shared the Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament trophy with India back in 1952, which was played in a round-robin format.

The green team started the final strongly, keeping most of the ball possession and putting Afghanistan under pressure. Their efforts paid off in the 24th minute when forward Dost scored a brilliant bicycle kick after midfielder Otis Khan mishit the ball inside the box, sending it up perfectly for the striker to finish.

After going behind early, Afghanistan pushed hard to find an equalizer before halftime, but Pakistan held on to go into the break leading 1-0.

The second half went in a similar way, with Afghanistan still pushing for an equalizer, but Pakistan stood firm even after making several changes. The score stayed 1-0 right up to the end of normal time.

Afterwards, forward Harun Hamid ended Afghanistan’s hopes of a comeback by scoring Pakistan’s second goal in the 94th minute, sealing a memorable win for the green shirts. It is certainly a great victory for Pakistan that came at the right time when the biggest carnival of world football is also set to begin tomorrow.

Pakistan Squad for Diamond Jubilee International Football Tournament

Goalkeepers: Saqib Hanif, Yousuf Butt and Hassan Ali.

Defenders: Abdullah Iqbal, Mohammad Fazal, Abdullah Shah, Easah Suliman, Mohib Afridi, Mamoon Moosa, Ali Niazi and Haris Zeb.

Midfielders: Adil Nabi, Rahis Nabi, Alamgir Ghazi, Hayyan Khattak, Ali Agha and Otis Khan.

Forwards: Shayak Dost, Umer Nawaz, Ali Shah, Ali Khan, Samad Arshad and Harun Hamid.