LAHORE, Feb 14: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) has shortlisted the probables to 37 from 75 players in the build up for the National team to appear in Nepal’s Prime Minister Cup in March and Sri Lanka’s third AFC Challenge Cup 2009 Qualifiers in April.

According to PFF’s Secretary General Col Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi, President, All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) Ganesh Thapa had invited Thailand, Pakistan, Bangladesh (which later withdrew) and Sri Lanka for Nepal’s Prime Minister Cup, scheduled to be held from March 5-15 at Kathmandu.

For the AFC Challenge Cup 2010, titlist India, runners-up Tajikistan and third-place finisher North Korea have qualified directly to the finals whereas 17 other teams will go through the qualifiers.

Macau and Mongolia plays the playoff to be the fourth team in Group ‘A’ that also includes Myanmar, Cambodia and group hosts Bangladesh.

Group hosts Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Chinese Taipei and Brunei Darussalam have been pooled in Group ‘D’, while Group ‘B’ will see Turkmenistan, the Philippines, Bhutan and group hosts Maldives fight it out. The winners of each group and the best second-placed team from among the groups advance to the eight-team finals of the AFC Challenge Cup 2010.

Probables:

Goalkeepers: Jaffar Khan (Army), Amir Gul (NBP), Bilal Rafiq (PIA), Basit Ghafoor (PEL), Zaid Arif (PEL), Jahangir Shah (Afghan FC, Chaman), Muzammil Hussain (Punjab).

Defenders: Naveed Akram, Rana Fakhar Hayat (Wapda), Mohammad Ahmed, Samar Ishaq (KRL), Aurangzeb (KPT), Yasir Sabir, Adil Ahmed, Mehmood Khan (NBP), Haji Mohammad, Abdul Jabbar, Ali Ehsan (PIA).

Midfielders: Mohammad Essa, Farhan Qadir (Navy), Mohammad Wasim (KPT), Abdul Aziz, Atiqullah, Abbas Ali (NBP), Nasrullah Khan (PIA), Javed Hamza (KESC), Mohammad Rashid (PEL), Jadeed Khan (Afghan FC), Mustafa Hussain (Islamabad).

Strikers: Imran Niazi (Wapda), Mohammad Qasim, Mohammad Rasool (KRL), Asif Mehmood, Sajjad Ahmed (Navy), Mohammad Asif (NBP), Shakir Lashari (PIA), Safiullah Khan (NWFP).—Agencies