The All-Pakistan National Bank Peace Football Cup 2012 saw the completion of its quarter-finals stage on 11-12 December 2012 at Shaheed Abdur Rehman Baloch Football Stadium in Gabol Park, Lyari, Karachi.
Tournament favourites Gwadar Port Authority, Pak Public Works Dept. (PPWD), Karachi’s DFA East, and DFA Hyderabad won their respective quarter-final ties to reach the semi-finals of NBP Peace Cup.
Gwadar Port Authority had to face stiff resistence from DFA West in first quarter-final, but they eventually prevailed 2-0. Second half goals from Tariq Badal (50′, 64′) helped GPA reach the semi-finals. GPA coach Essa Gwadari was confident of his side winning tournament and said that he has full faith in his squad delivering success.
The 2nd quarter-final saw Pak PWD reach the semi-finals after beating tournament hosts DFA South on penalties 7-6. The match had initially finished 1-1, with DFA South’s Muhammad Shafi (45′) and PPWD’s Aqeel Ali (49′) scoring in normal time. In the shoot-out, PPWD’s Shahnawaz Soomar, Jehangir Khan, Soomar Qasim, Sajid Ali, Aqeel Ali, M Asif and Gul Muhammad kept their cool to score from the spot, but M Ramzan’s penalty came crashing off the post. DFA South’s Shahid Saleem, Habib Ghulam, M Yousaf, Sirajuddin, Habib Jr., Ejaz Allah Bakhsh responded but Amjad Yousaf and Zaheer Ahmed were kept out by PPWD’s goalkeeper Sajid Baloch.
On Thursday, 13 December, Gwadar Port Authority face PPWD in the first semi-final.
3rd quarter-final saw DFA East face DFA Malir. DFA East took the lead through captain Abdul Hafeez after 28 minutes. But Zahid Khan responded for DFA Malir with a goal in 78th minute to end it 1-1 at end of normal time. In the penalty shoot-out, DFA East kept their cool to win 4-3. Aqeel Khan, Kamran, Saqib Ali, and Aziz ur Rehman scored from the spot for DFA East. Malir could only respond through Abdul Haleem, Noor Bakhsh, and Jamil as Muhammad Baloch and Saeed Ahmed failed to beat the DFA East goalkeeper.
In final quarter-final, DFA Hyderabad battled hard to beat DFA Panjgur 3-2 on penalties after an entertaining 2-2 draw at end of normal time. The first half saw 4 goals being scored as Hyderabad’s M Faheem (8′) and Abdul Nawaz (31′) were cancelled out by Panjgur’s Aftab Nasir (15′) and M Ilyas (41′).
With no further goals in second half, penalties beckoned. Hyderabad’s Shakeel, Aftab, and Hameed scored but Wasim and Abdul Nawaz failed to beat Panjgur goalie Akhtar Sajid. Only Muhammad Zaman and Akhtar Sajid could respond for Panjgur as Hyderabad’s goalie Faizan Saeed stopped Noor Bakhsh, Ilyas, and Noor Siddiqui from scoring to reach the semi-finals.
DFA East will face DFA Hyderabad in 2nd semi-final on Friday, 14 December. DFA East’s vice president Syed Usman Shah announced that his side will be presented tracksuits in reward for reaching NBP Peace Cup semis.
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The quarter-finals of the All-Sindh Qazi Abdur Rasheed Bhatti Invitational Football Tournament at Municipal High School Ground in Nawabshah (Shaheed Benazirabad) were completed.
All remaining Karachi sides faced defeat in the quarter-finals and headed back home. Movement Sports (Nawabshah) beat Rizwan Sports (Karachi) 2-1 with goals from Iftikhar and Shoaib for winners and Rashid for losing side.
2nd quarter-final saw Nawabshah’s Firdos FC beat Karachi Young Azad on penalties 5-4 after a 0-0 score. In 3rd quarter-final, Nawabshah’s Young Baloch edged Karachi’s Irfan Memorial also 5-4 on penalties after 0-0 draw.
Nawabshah’s Aslam Azad FC had already reached the semi-finals after winning their 2 previous rounds. They face Movement FC, while Young Baloch face Firdos in the semi-finals.