ISLAMABAD – With her stunning performance in the last minute, Pakistan women football team skipper Maria Khan helped team draw the last game of the Women’s International Friendly Tournament against Saudi Arabia 1-1 at the Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium in Al-Khobar city.
Pakistan finished runner up while the Saudi Arabia managed to bag first position due to being table topper with seven points. The two other teams featured in the four-nation tournament included Comoros and Mauritius, with the event began last week for the first time since 2020.
In Thursday’s game, Saudi Arabia gained a lead of 1-0 in the first half of the game, which Maria Khan equaled with a spectacular direct free-kick. The video of the Pakistani skipper’s magical goal has gone viral on social media where fans are showering praises on her.
Maria Khan 🇵🇰 new #GOAT𓃵 in Football women world .
What a goalpic.twitter.com/LyFS9IMv7V— Babar Khan Niazi🇵🇸🇵🇰 (@BabarNiaziPTI) January 20, 2023
What a fantastic GOAL ⚽️: Maria Khan's 🇵🇰 direct free-kick that levelled the score against Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦pic.twitter.com/5RQmyeb2OB
— Atta ur Rehman (@Atta_ur_RehmanJ) January 20, 2023
Captain fantastic Maria Khan scores directly from a free-kick for Pakistan!! 🔥⚽️
🇸🇦 1-1 🇵🇰#PakistanFootballpic.twitter.com/is3aB3D2fO
— Muneeb Farrukh (@Muneeb313_) January 19, 2023
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also congratulated to the national team for finishing second and also praised skipper Maria Khan for her spectacular goal.
“Congratulations to Saudi Arabia for winning this tournament and proud of our Women’s National Team Pakistan finishing 2nd. Special congratulations to Maria Khan for scoring this spectacular goal. We are working on policy to promote football and women’s sports in Pakistan,” the premier wrote in a tweet.
Congratulations to Saudi Arabia for winning this tournament and proud of our Women’s National Team 🇵🇰 finishing 2nd. Special congratulations to Maria Khan for scoring this spectacular goal. We are working on policy to promote football and women’s sports in Pakistan https://t.co/3QKcgIT4WC
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) January 20, 2023
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), in a statement, said the national women’s team made “history” by finishing runners-up in the friendly event.
“We end up the Women’s International Tournament as Runners Up. What an achievement by this team. HISTORY MADE!,” the PFF wrote on Twitter.
FULL TIME! 💥
We end up the Women’s International Tournament as Runners Up 🏆
What an achievement by this team. HISTORY MADE!#PakistanFootball #DilSayFootball #WomensFootball pic.twitter.com/tTVLW2bAjo
— Pakistan Football Federation (@TheRealPFF) January 19, 2023
The green shirts beat Comoros in the first encounter while they had to face defeat against Mauritius in the second match on January 15.
Pakistan women’s football team starts Four-Nation Cup campaign with 1-0 victory against Comoros
