Malik Mateen Akhtar (born 3 March 1962), alternatively spelled Matin Akhtar, is a Pakistani 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 ...

. A former captain, Akhtar is among the major players of 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 ...

in the 1980s and 1990s. He won the

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and

1991 South Asian Games The 1991 South Asian Games (or 5th SAF Games) were held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 22 December to 31 December 1991.National Sports Council, Nepa"South Asian Games". Retrieved on 16 February 2011 Sports * Athletics * Basketball * Boxing * Foo ...

with

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

captaining the national side in the former edition, and was the starting goalkeeper at the

1990 FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification, qualification competition for the 1990 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations. Each confederation — the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Confederat ...

in the country's first participation in the tournament. He also captained the national team at the

1990 Asian Games ) , nations = 31 , athletes = 6,122 , events = 308 in 27 sports , opening = 22 September 1990 , closing = 7 October 1990 , opened_by = Yang Shangkun , closed_by = Roy de Silva , athlete_oath = Chen L ...

Club career

In 1982, Akhtar featured in the National Youth Football Championship. He was also borrowed by

Wohaib FC Hafiz Wohaib Butt Memorial Football Club (), commonly known as Wohaib FC, is a professional association football, football club based in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. The club last competed in the 2020 PFF League, the second tier of ...

to take part in the qualifying round of the 1992–93 Asian Club Championship, where the team earned victories over

Club Valencia Club Valencia is a Republic of the Maldives, Maldivian professional football (soccer), football club based in Malé. Nicknamed ''The Sunrisers'', the club most recently competed in the Dhivehi Premier League, the top tier of Football in Maldives ...

from

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 ...

and

Brothers Union Brothers Union () is a professional association football, football club based in Gopibagh, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It currently competes in the Bangladesh Premier League (football), Bangladesh Premier League, the top flight of Football in Bangladesh, ...

from

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

to qualify for Group B, becoming the first Pakistani club to pass the qualifying round of an Asian competition. However after the qualification, Akhtar returned to WAPDA after the start of the 1992–1993 National Football Championship, held from 20 October 1992 to 14 February 1993.

International career

Akhtar made his international debut at the

Merdeka Tournament Merdeka Tournament () is an international friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. It is mainly played at Independence Stadium, in Kuala Lumpur. "Merdeka" is the Malay word for independence. As of 202 ...

in 1984, where he was praised for his performance. He was the starting goalkeeper and captain at the

in the country's first participation in the tournament, featuring in all the four games. He subsequently captained the national team at the

1989 South Asian Games The 1989 South Asian Games, officially the IV South Asian Federation Games, were held in Islamabad, Pakistan from 20 October to 28 October 1989. Muhammad Ali appeared as a special guest at the closing ceremony. The Games Participating nations ...

, helping the national side achieve the gold medal. The next year, he retained his captaincy in the

. In 1991, he won the

as starter goalkeeper. He featured in Pakistan's second participation at the

1994 FIFA World Cup qualification The 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 1994 FIFA World Cup featured 24 teams with one place reserved for the host nation, United States, and one place for the defending cham ...

in 1993, playing in all three matches where Pakistan again ended up unsuccessful.

Honours

Pakistan

South Asian Games The South Asian Games is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among athletes from South Asia. The South Asia Olympic Council, which was formed in 1983, governs it. The Games consist of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, N ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

References

External links