Iltaf Ahmed (; born 2 December 1979) is a 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. Born in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, he represented the

Pakistan national football team The Pakistan national football team () represents Pakistan in men's international Association football, football in FIFA-authorized events and is controlled by the Pakistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Pakistan. Paki ...

Club career

Ahmed played football at amateur level, and worked simultaneously in a takeaway. Ahmed drifted away from the professional level, after unsuccessful trials at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. In November 2008, Ahmed played at Bradford-based amateur team ''Carnation'', qualifying for the final of the FA Umbro Fives at Wembley.

International career

In 2007, Ahmed was plucked from obscurity when former Pakistan starter Jaffar Khan was unavailable for the

2010 World Cup qualifiers Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

against

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Ahmed was recommended by a member of the national team,

Amjad Iqbal Amjad Iqbal (Urdu: ; born 2 May 1983) is a former footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. Born and raised in England, he played for the Pakistan national team. Club career Born to a British Pakistani family in Bradford, West Yorks ...

and Pakistan football fans who search for eligible Pakistani footballers based aboard. He was on the bench for the 7–0 hammering by Iraq. For the second leg, Head coach

Akhtar Mohiuddin Akhtar Mohiuddin (Urdu: ) (born 1 March 1956 in Chaman, Pakistan) is a Pakistani professional football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of PMC Athletico Faisalabad. Mohiuddin also served as the head coach of the ...

selected him for the starting line up and he made his debut. Ahmed surprised everyone when he prevented Iraq scoring despite their numerous attempts, with the match ending 0–0, and became the new favourite. In March 2008, Ahmed featured in a two-match friendly series 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 ...

at the Pokhara Rangasala Stadium, resulting in a 1–2 defeat and a 2–0 victory. Ahmed was benched in the first two

2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification The qualification phase for the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup saw four teams advance to the finals to join four automatic qualifiers in the final tournament in India. Qualification was held from 2 April to 28 May 2008 in four different venues. Sixteen t ...

games which ended in a 7–1 lose 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, ...

, and then get a chance against

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 ...

in a 9–2 victory. In a mysterious development, despite being called up for the SAFF Cup 2008, Ahmed failed to go to Pakistan and hence was unavailable for the national team camp, resulting in his international career coming to an end.

Career statistics

International

References

External links