Muhammad Essa Khan (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

: ; born 20 November 1983) is a Pakistani

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a forward. He is the current head coach of

Khan Research Laboratories The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories (shortened as KRL), is a federally funded research and development laboratory located in Kahuta at a short distance from Rawalpindi in Punjab, Pakistan. Established in 1976, the laboratory is best know ...

. A former captain of the Pakistan national team, he is regarded among the most talented football players Pakistan has produced. He was used as a

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

particularly in support of a striker, or a genuine centre forward because of his ball holding and passing skills. He was a left-footed free-kick specialist. In his playing days, Essa was one of the most well known faces in Pakistani football, due to his regular goal scoring at international level.

Club career

Early career

Born in the city of

Chaman Chaman (Pashto and ) is the capital city of the Chaman District in Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is located near the Durand Line, Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The city is situated south of the Wesh–Chaman border crossing with ...

in Pakistan's

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

province, he played in the youth team of Pakistani club side Afghan FC Chaman before signing for PTCL FC, with whom he won the old PFF President's Cup in 2003. In the inaugural

Pakistan Premier League The Pakistan Premier League (PPL; ) is a Pakistani semi-professional league for men's football clubs. The top tier of the Pakistan football league system, the PPL operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the PFFL B Division. The ...

season in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, the club finished fifth in the league table.

Foreign interest

In June 2005, Essa was offered a playing contract from major Indian football team East Bengal FC after his stellar performance in the international friendly series against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, but the deal collapsed after the club decided to retain the striker

Bhaichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often ...

for the next season following the wages demands of Essa. Essa was also later offered to play for JCT in India, and clubs from

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

and

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

but the move seemingly failed to materialise.

Afghan Chaman

In the second season of

season in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, he returned to his hometown club Afghan FC Chaman, with his goals helping them to finish fourth in the table.

WAPDA

The following season, he transferred to departmental side WAPDA, but could not help them retain their Pakistan Premier League title; finishing second to

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

KRL

He moved to

, and helped them finish third in the 2007–08 season. The same year, he played in the Geo Super Football League for Quetta Zorawar as captain. Although his team came second in the league round and lost in the semi-final in the knock-out round of the tournament, he was awarded the SFL 2007 Player of the Tournament trophy.

K-Electric

In 2009, he moved to K-Electric, where he served both as a player and assistant coach in the last years. He also played in the 2010 season that the Geo Super Football League for Karachi Energy beating Quetta Zorawar 1–0 in final.

International career

Essa started at the under-16 level in 1995, and went on to play for the under-19 side. He was discovered by then Pakistan youth team and under-23 manager John Layton back in early 1999, and found his way into the Pakistan national football team soon enough, receiving his first cap in 2001. In 2004, Essa was called up to the Pakistan U-23 squad for the 2004 South Asian games. He ended the tournament as top scorer and was player of the tournament, and helped Pakistan win the gold medal. His goal in the semi final against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

which ultimately ended in a 1–1 draw until the penalty shootout took Pakistan all the way to the final against

, where Abdul Aziz's goal gave Pakistan a 1–0 victory. Essa scored his first senior international goal in a free-kick against

, in the first match of the 2005 Pakistan-India friendly series at the Ayub National Stadium in

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

to tie the game 1–1 with minutes to go before the final whistle. He scored again in the 3–0 win against India at the Punjab Stadium in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. He was named player of series at the end. In 2006, he captained the Pakistan under 23 side at the

2006 South Asian Games The 2006 South Asian Games (also known as the 10th South Asian Games) were held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 18 August to 28 August 2006, in the Sugathadasa Stadium with more than 2000 sportspersons competing in the record 20 disciplines of Sports. ...

, winning another gold medal. After advancing from the group stages, Essa's strike against

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

led Pakistan to the final against Sri Lanka, which ended in a victory for the ''Green Shirts'' thanks to a goal by Adeel Ahmed in the half time. He also captained the under-23 side at the 2006 Asian Games. He retained his captaincy for the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification campaign. Despite a 2–0 win against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

in the first match, Pakistan lost 7–1 to

, which made Pakistan's 9–2 demolition of

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

meaningless as they finished behind on points to Sri Lanka, thus failing to qualify for the main round. Because of injury, Essa had to miss the 2008 SAFF Championship. He retired from the national team during the

2009 SAFF Championship The 2009 SAFF Championship, South Asian Football Federation Championship was hosted by Bangladesh from 4 to 13 December 2009. Bangladesh was awarded to host the tournament after the withdrawal of original hosts India. After India's reluctance to ...

, following a fallout with the international team manager György Kottán.

Managerial career

Essa served K-Electric both as a player and assistant coach while attaining the AFC B coaching license. He was appointed as assistant coach of the Pakistan national team in 2018, lasting during the tenure of former PFF president Faisal Saleh Hayat, who was ousted by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

in June 2019. He returned to K-Electric as head coach until the team got disbanded in 2020. He joined KRL as the head coach in January 2023.

Personal life

Essa came from a family of footballers. Two of his uncles and his two brothers played in the domestic circuit. His older brother Ahmad Shah played at the national level and younger brother Jahangir Khan played for Pakistan national under-19 team. Essa's younger cousin Kaleemullah Khan is also a footballer and represented the Pakistan national team. On 13 August 2007, Essa was awarded the Salaam Pakistan Award alongside tennis star

Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi ( Punjabi, ; born 17 Mar 1980) is a Pakistani professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He is the only Pakistani player ever to reach a Grand Slam final, having done so in both men's and mixed doubles at the ...

and female squash player Maria Toorpakai for their contributions to sport by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

. On 7 May 2009, Essa received AFC Distinguished Services Awards from

President

Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...

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during the AFC 23rd Congress. In 2009, he opened an academy at his home town in Chaman, called the Essa Khan Academy. Essa is the co-founder of Pak Afghan Clearing Agency, founded as a hybrid of a department and football club.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Pakistan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Essa goal.''

Honours

Pakistan Telecommunication *

Pakistan National Football Challenge Cup The PFF National Challenge Cup is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in men's domestic Football in Pakistan, Pakistani football within the Pakistan football league system. It is organized ...

: 2003 Khan Research Laboratories *

: 2009–10 *

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

K-Electric *

: 2014–15 Pakistan U23 * South Asian Games Gold:

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Essa, Muhammad 1983 births Living people Pakistani men's footballers Pakistan men's international footballers Pashtun footballers Sportspeople from Balochistan, Pakistan WAPDA F.C. players Afghan FC Chaman players Khan Research Laboratories FC players K-Electric FC players Footballers from Chaman Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Men's association football forwards South Asian Games gold medalists for Pakistan Asian Games competitors for Pakistan South Asian Games medalists in football People from Killa Abdullah District Pakistani football managers 21st-century Pakistani sportsmen