Striving for excellence is an
important part of professionalism in any job, whether it’s your career or a
sport. It involves trying to put quality into everything you do but when a place
lacks standard football grounds, coaches, clubs and even the equipment required
to play international level football is not readily available, this
unavailability results into a restricted number of national players.
Like any other country, we have a capable youth but hardly any facilities.Facing
a similar dilemma is a young football player, Fazal Mohammad. He belongs to
Khuzdar, a district located in the centre of Balochistan. He is a part of the
Junior National football team. However, reaching this stage required a lot of
dedication and hard work.
Coming from a humble backgroundand working as an auto mechanic, financial stress
has always been a challenge for Mohammad but motivated by his desire to become a
world class player, Mohammad started training and practicing in 2004 and is
playing till date. He believes his skills have only improved with time. He
became a part of the district team and then eventually was selected for the
Junior National Team. In 2010, he competed in a regional tournament and scored
two goals each against Afghanistan and Kuwait which got him further recognition
as an upcoming football star.
Despite being a professional footballer, Mohammad receives only a daily
allowance of 1,500 to 2,000 rupees per day during matches and visits which is
not enough to support his family. Sadly, football has not yet become
sufficiently rewarding for him.
The end goal for Mohammad is being a world class player and sowe hope to see his
efforts translate into a lucrative profession. He’s focused on his passion and
determined to represent Pakistan on a bigger platform than the National Junior
football team in future.