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Issue 137, Friday 29 September 2000 - 1 Rajab 1421

Asian football championships

By Imran Azam

London APSA manager Zulfi Ali believes “Islamic” team spirit played a vital role in his side winning the Asian football Championships this month. APSA, a predominately Muslim team, beat SASA FC 1-0 in an uninspiring final watched by a crowd of 2,000 at Celtic Park.

Speaking after the match he said :"Allah deserves all the credit for this. Our team spirit is based upon Islam since the boys are all Muslim. We all look out and respect each other and as Muslims the bond between the players has always been strong."

The London team, playing for the first time in the competition, were unbeaten throughout the tournament scoring five goals while conceding only one.

Goalkeeper Imran Khan was the most outstanding performer making several crucial saves to keep his team in contention for the final. There was further good news when Warley Ranger's captain Zahoor Suliman was voted player of the tournament by organizers. Suliman, who has had trials for several professional clubs, was delighted with his award. He said:"It means (Islam) a lot to me. My religion means more to me than my football. It is nice to see Muslims playing football at this level while also practicing their religion." He added:"I am happy to be winning this award but my final pass has to be improved. It needs work on. As a team our minds were on the league and not on this competition.That was disappointing."

Sporting Bengal strongly fancied to win the competition failed to justify top billing. They failed to win any of their three matches.

The competition has been held in Glasgow for the last two years and it seems a move to England and possibly London is on the cards.