Pakistan aims at football World Cup 2010
Pakistan is aiming to reach the World Cup finals - not in cricket but in the 2010 football event. It has approached Steve Kean, a Scotland football manager, to carry out necessary changes in the Pakistan football scene.
Pakistan’s Football Association, based in Lahore, has offered Kean a pivotal role in a multi-million pound restructuring plan designed to drag them out of the lower reaches of the FIFA world rankings and to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa.
Kean, an assistant manager at Fulham, has accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan in November and is said to be keen to assist in maximising the unexplored potential of the country.
The Pakistan government is reported to be prepared to underwrite the revamp.
Central to Pakistan’s ambitious plan is Fulham’s Zesh Rehman, the only British Asian of Pakistan origin currently playing in the premiership.
The Pakistani association has identified him as the man to lead the country into their first ever World Cup finals and urged him to pledge allegiance to his parents’ homeland though he has represented England at the under-20 level.
Rehman is said to have given a verbal agreement, but only on the condition that Kean be allowed to administer the necessary changes at grassroots level.
“It all happened because the Pakistani FA are determined to build their team around Zesh,” Kean told The Herald, Glasgow. "He is a huge star in Pakistan and his appearances are shown on loop over there.
“They want him to take Pakistan to the World Cup and it was his idea that I go over with him in November, assess the facilities and coaching techniques, before hopefully being given a blank canvas to point them in the right direction.”
He believes any future success in Pakistan may have fringe benefits in Britain.
“It is certainly an exciting challenge. I have helped out the Irish FA before but Pakistan is a vast, untapped market. With 2.5 million Asians in England alone, there is huge potential,” he said.
InshAllah.