Lahore, 21 October: Multan-born international striker Arif Mehmood, only Pakistani to score hat-trick in history of SAFF Championship (three against Bhutan, 8 December 2009 at Dhaka) is looking for another Leading Scorer award in Pakistan Premier Football League. WAPDA’s popular spearhead struck 17 goals in ongoing PPFL that saw completion of 96 matches. Those 96 matches produced 239 goals with Arif, also skipper of WAPDA, being only player to reach twenties. His goals are too much for other rivals as second placed Jadeed Khan (Afghan FC) is far behind with six goals.
Making international debut during Test Series in Sri Lanka 2002, he appeared in U17 Asian Championship 2002, U20 Asian Championship 2002, 14th Asian Games 2002, World Cup QR 2003. He pocketed gold in 9th SAF Games 2004 and later on represented Pakistan in Taif’s Islamic Games, Indo Pak Series and SAFF Championship in 2005 and 14th Asian Cup Qualifiers in 2006.
Arif was also leading marksman in PPFL 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009 while Imran Hussain (Army) and Muhammad Rasool (KESC, formerly KRL) grabbed top scorer award in 2005 and 2008 respectively. Arif returned to international soccer after two years gap in 2008 and played in SAFF Championship and Malaysia friendly on 10 October 2008. Georg Kottan also picked him for Thailand Tour and SAFF Championship 2009. Twenty-six years old sharp-shooter is also the only player of PPFL to register two hat-tricks in ongoing show. Zafar Majeed (KPT) and Jadeed Khan (Afghan FC) also recorded hat-trick in the show.
The 96 matches of the event produced following 239 goals
WAPDA 35
Arif Mehmood 17, Imran Niazi 5, Khuda Bakhsh 4, Mehmood Ali 3, Zulfiqar Ali Shah 2, Zeeshan Javed 2, Akram Masih 1, Muhammad Afzal 1,
KPT 20
Zahid Ahmed 4, Zafar Majeed 3, Jamal Uddin 3, Shahid Salim 2, Muhammad bin Younus 2, Akhter Mamil 2, Muhammad Wasim 1, OG (Samad-SSGC) 1, OG (Ibrar Ullah-PAF) 1, Naseer Ahmed 1
Afghan FC 20
Jadeed Khan 6, Abdul Hadi 4, W/O 3, Abdul Nasir 2, Fazal Ur Rehman 2, Jumma Khan 1, Moaz Khan 1, Najeeb Khan 1
PEL 18
Saad Ullah 4, Asmat Ullah 3, Muhammad Bilawal 2, Waqas Ahmed 2, Muhammad Shaire 2, Riaz Ahmed 2, Muzaffar Ali 1, Ijaz Sarfraz 1, Muhammad Rashid 1
PIA 17
Nazeer Ahmed 3, Hasnain Abbas 3, Nasr Ullah 3, Zeeshan Ali 3, Muhammad Ishtiaq 2, Wasim Ullah 1, Abdul Ghaffar 1, Shakir Lashari 1
Army 17
Imran Hussain ( Faisalabad) 5, Muhammad Ikram 3, Muhammad Imran (Pir Mahal) 3, Ansar Abbas 2, Sharjeel Vicky 2, Umar Daraz 1, Muhammad Shabbir 1
KESC 14
Muhammad Rasool 4, Abdul Rehman 3, Orangzaib Shahmir 3, Muhammad Essa 2, Aftab Ahmed 1, Ahmed Lal 1
PAF 13
Muhammad Mujahid 4, Amir Khan 2,Amir Hussain 2 Muhammad Zeeshan 2, Muhammad Farooq 1 , Arif Nawaz 1, Mudassar Wasim 1
KRL 12
Muhammad Qasim 4, M Shahid (Faisalabad)2, Kalim Ullah 1, Samar Ishaq 1, Mudassar Saeed 1, Zia Us Salam 1, Shahid Ahmed (Quetta)1, Abid Ghafoor 1
NBP 12
Farooq Shah 2, Muhammad Asif 2, Adil Ahmad 2, Javed Hamza 1, Abdul Aziz 1, Saddam Hussain 1, Imran Aziz 1, Muhammad Ashfaq 1, Jamil Ahmed 1
SSGC 12
Asim Faiz 4, Imran Hussain 2, Rustam Khan 1, Aftab Ahmed 1, Zia Ur Rehman 1, Sabir Khan 1, Muhammad Tehsin 1, Ata Ullah 1
Navy 11
Asif Bakhsh 3, Rizwan (Haripur) 2, Bilal 2, Muhammad Basharat 2, Naveed Ahmed 1, Abdul Haq 1
Young Blood 11
Abid Hussain 3, Asim Mansoor 2, Asif Mansoor 2, Khawar Khalid 1, Ghulam Fareed 1, Amir Yaqoob 1, Muhammad Adnan 1
PMC 10
Haroon Yousof 4, Naveed Mumtaz 3, Muhammad Qaise 2, Ahmed Raza 1
Baloch FC 10
W/O 3, Habib Ullah 2, Sana Ullah 2, Sherdil Khan 1, Nasib Ullah Khan 1, Wali Khan 1
HBL 7
Khayal Muhammad 2, Muhammad Ibrahim 1, Abid Hussain 1, Abdullah, 1. OG (Amir Yaqoob – YBFC) 1, Zakir Lashari 1
The event will resume on Friday, 22 October with matches: WAPDA v KPT (Garhi Shahu’s Railway Stadium, Lahore 3 PM), Young Blood, Sahiwal v NBP (Rai Ali Nawaz Stadium, near Fareed Town Police Station, Sahiwal 3 PM), Army v Afghan (Municipal Stadium, Saidpur Road, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi 3 PM), PAF v HBL (Qayyum Stadium, near Saddar, Bara Road, Peshawar Cantt 3 PM)