Muhammad Rizwan Asif (born 8 January 1990) 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 winger for the Pakistan under-23 team and the senior national team. He was praised for his dribbling, tracking and passing skills. Asif won five

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

titles and five

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 ...

with KRL.

Club career

Early career

Asif started his career with Wohaib at the

2007–08 Pakistan Premier League The 2007–08 season was the 53rd season of Pakistan domestic football and the 4th season of the Pakistan Premier League. It was held from November 1, 2007 to February 6, 2008, under the auspices of Pakistan Football Federation. Changes The Pakis ...

, and later played for Pak Elektron.

Khan Research Laboratories

Asif later joined

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 ...

in 2009, winning his first ever league title in his debut season. He further won three more back to back league titles with the club. He also won the

National Football Challenge Cup The PFF National Challenge Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Pakistani football within the Pakistan football league system. It is organized by and named after the Pakistan Football Federation. Initially named as ...

trophies five times. He missed the whole

2012–13 Pakistan Premier League The 2012–13 Pakistan Premier League was the 9th season of the Pakistan Premier League, the Pakistani professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2004. The season began on 5 September 2012 and ended on 15 Januar ...

season because of a leg injury. He also participated in the

AFC President's Cup The AFC Challenge League (previously known as the AFC President's Cup, abbreviated as ACGL) is an annual third-tier continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. The competition is played among clubs from n ...

from 2012 to 2014. He was a member of the team which reached the

2013 AFC President's Cup The 2013 AFC President's Cup was the ninth edition of the AFC President's Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "emerging countries" in Asia. Istiqlol were the defending champions, but did ...

final, after falling to Turkmen club

Balkan FT The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

by 0–1 in the final. He received an injury ahead of the 2013 President’s Cup while playing a practice game, after developing a hair-line fracture in his leg, the same injury which had previously kept him out of action for almost a year.

International career

Rizwan featured in the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...

with the Pakistan under-23 team. He was selected as vice-captain of the under-23 side at the 2012 Summer Olympics Qualifiers against Malaysia in 2011. He impressed in both competitions, creating chances down the right wing. He made his international debut for the senior side in March 2011 in a two-match friendly series against

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, the first match ending in a 1–2 defeat and the second in a 0–0 draw. After subsequently featuring at the

2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, he was controversially excluded for the

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

in 2011.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

U23

Honours

;Khan Research Laboratories *

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 ...

: 2009–10, 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2013–14, 2018–19 *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asif, Rizwan Pakistani men's footballers Pakistan men's international footballers Living people 1990 births Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games Men's association football wingers Wohaib FC players Khan Research Laboratories FC players Asian Games competitors for Pakistan 21st-century Pakistani sportsmen