SAFF Championship 2013: We are not scared of India – Pakistan defender Zesh Rehman

One of the growing trends in international football is the willingness of countries to have foreign-born players in their national team. It is prevalent almost everywhere now right from major teams like Germany, Italy to nations from the sub-continent like Afghanistan, Pakistan.

Indian laws still don’t permit dual citizenship hence the national team doesn’t have the option of having foreign-born players like Michael Chopra, Harmeet Singh etc.

But having foreign-based or foreign-born players doesn’t guarantee success and Pakistan is possibly the best example in South Asia as they have failed to reach the semi-finals in the last three editions of the SAFF Championship despite having several foreign-based players in their team.

Their most famous foreign-born national team player is undoubtedly Zesh Rehman, who is also the first British Asian to play in all four divisions of England. Born in Birmingham, Zesh came through the Fulham youth system and represented them in the English Premier League also.

He represented England at various age-group levels but eventually turned out for the country of his origin, Pakistan, at senior international level. Zesh was part of the last Pakistan team that reached the semi-finals of the SAFF Cup in the 2005 edition, which also was his first senior international tournament.

Since then, the 29-year-old hasn’t had a chance to represent Pakistan too often due to club commitments, but he is hopeful of playing in the 2013 SAFF Championship.

“I am in touch with the officials of the Pakistan football federation and hopefully will get to play in the SAFF Cup this time. It is undoubtedly the biggest football tournament in the SAFF region so it would be an honour to play in it again. Even though many of us weren’t born in Pakistan, once we put on that green shirt, it’s an absolute privilege and I am looking forward to get that opportunity in the SAFF tournament,” Zesh told Sportskeeda from Hong Kong, where he plays now, in an exclusive chat.

The center back now plays for one of Hong Kong’s most successful teams Kitchee SC and thus was in India recently to face Churchill Brothers in the AFC Cup group stage. Like East Bengal, Kitchee too have made it to the AFC Cup quarter-finals and thus are having pre-season preparations at present.

As a result, Zesh is unlikely to play in Pakistan’s friendlies against Bangladesh and Afghanistan this month but is optimistic of appearing in the SAFF Championship next month in Nepal.

“I guess it’s unlikely for me to be a part of the team for the two friendlies but hopefully I will be available for the tournament. As I said, the officials know my situation and soon we will sort out a schedule,” said Zesh, who recently played against Manchester United in a pre-season friendly.

The biggest attraction of the 2013 SAFF Championship will be the mouth-watering opening game between arch-rivals India and Pakistan. Zesh commented that the fixture is a great advert for the tournament and rates India very highly but believes the standard of all teams in the SAFF region is more or else the same.

“I think such an exciting opening fixture is great for the tournament. India are a top side and their record proves it but we won’t be scared of them because to be honest in terms of standards, most teams in the sub-continent are close to each other. There isn’t much of a difference (between the teams) so on a given day any team can beat anyone,” the former QPR defender opined.

Serbian Zavisa Milosavljevic has been in charge of Pakistan for almost two years now and Zesh, who also runs his own charity named ‘Zesh Rehman Foundation’, reckoned that stability should help Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals from their group which also has hosts Nepal and Bangladesh.

“I think yes, we can get past the group stage and perhaps even make it to the final as well because the national team has been playing under the current coach (Zavisa Milosavljevic) for some time so we have the potential of having a good tournament this time,” he concluded.