PFF announces 5 million rupees for football team after beating India 2-0

Karachi: Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) president Saleh Faisal Hayat has announced a cash prize of five million rupees for the national team players for defeating India in the second match of the two-game friendship series in Bangalore. "The 2-0 win our boys got over India today is a big step forward for Pakistan football," Hayat told PTI on telephone. "India is ahead of us in football in terms of finances, facilities and domestic leagues so this win is no small achievement," he said. India won the first match of the series by a solitary goal before Pakistan registered a convincing 2-0 victory over the hosts today through skipper Kaleemullah and Saddam Hussain`s goals. It was the first football series between the two countries in a span of nine years. "The win is a boost for us coming ahead of the Asian Games. Things are looking up for Pakistan football with our street children team doing well in international events. Some of our players playing abroad as professionals and now this series victory...," Hayat said. He said the recent World Cup in Brazil had shown that there was immense interest in football among the youths of Pakistan. "I am confident that Pakistan will start moving up in the football world soon because sponsors also want to invest in sports and events where the youth has a major interest and passion," he said. He said the huge turnouts for the two Indo-Pak games in Bangalore had shown there was huge interest for such series. "We will also be talking about having regular bilateral series and hosting India and also about the possibility of having tournaments with India and other neighboring countries in the United Kingdom where there is a large Asian expatriate community," he said. Hayat said the players were happy with the hospitality provided to them in India. "We can learn a lot from India and move on and I am confident some of our players like Kaleem will eventually feature in the lucrative Indian Super League," he said.