Pakistan Under-16 football team has left for Kuwait to take part in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Championship qualifiers being staged there from September 12 to 22. Muneer Aftab is leading Pakistan Under-16 football team while Malik Dilshad Ahmed is his deputy.
Other members of the team are: Usman Khan, Syed Hassan Mujtaba, Muhammad Boota (all goalkeepers), Shahbaz Masih, Rashid Noor, Babar Ali, Tanzeel Ashfaq, Muhammad Basit Amin, Bilal Asghar, Muhammad Sohail, Raza Ali, Haider Ali, Muhammad Zeeshan, Sanaullah, Yawar, Ashfaq uddin, Muhammad Bilal, Zain-ul-Aabdeen, Sher Ali and Mansoor.
Sajjad Mahmood is accompanying the team as coach. Muhammad Hassan Baloch (assistant coach), Noman Ibrahim Chaudhry (goalkeeper coach) and Dr Kamran Mehdi (Physio) are also accompanied with the team. Pakistan will play opening match on September 12 against Maldives, followed by their ties against Kuwait on September 14, UAE on September 17, Afghanistan on September 19 and Yemen on September 22.
Pakistan has been placed in Group B with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yemen, Kuwait, Maldives and Afghanistan. All the matches of the group will be staged at the Mohammed Al Hamad Stadium and Sabah Al Salem Stadium in Kuwait. Overall 39 teams from zones west (22 teams) and East (17) have been placed in seven different groups. Top two teams from each of the groups and the best third placed team from West and East Zone will qualify for the next year's tournament. The reigning champion of U-16 championship is DPR Korea who defeated host Uzbekistan in the 2010 edition final 2-0 in Tashkent, a spokesman of Pakistan Football Federation said.