Abbas Ali (born September 3, 1990) is a Pakistani former professional

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 le ...

. Naturally a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, Ali also played as

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He also represented

Pakistan national football team The Pakistan national football team represents Pakistan association football in FIFA-authorized events and is controlled by the Pakistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Pakistan. Pakistan became a member of FIFA in 19 ...

Club career

National Bank

Ali made his debut in

2005–06 Pakistan Premier League The 2005–06 Pakistan Premier League season was the 2nd season of Pakistan Premier League and 51st season of Pakistan domestic football. WAPDA were the defending champions, winning their 1st Pakistan Premier League and 5th Pakistani title las ...

at the age of 15. He played six out of 22 matches. He scored his first goal in the 2006–07 season against

Pakistan Navy ur, ہمارے لیے اللّٰہ کافی ہے اور وہ بہترین کارساز ہے۔ English language, English: Allah is Sufficient for us - and what an excellent (reliable) Trustee (of affairs) is He!(''Quran, Qur'an, Al Imran, 3:173' ...

, scoring the winner in 89th minute on December 14, 2006. Ali started playing more a defensive midfielder rather than a centre-back for the 2007–08 season. Ali scored crucial goals for National Bank, scoring an equaliser against Habib Bank on 15 November 2007, National Bank won the match 2–1. Ali scored his second goal of the season on 5 December, when he scored the lone goal of the match against

Khan Research Laboratories The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, ( ur, ) or KRL for short, is a federally funded, multi-program national research institute and national laboratory site primarily dedicated to uranium enrichment, supercomputing and fluid mechanics. It ...

at 36th minutes. Ali once again scored the winner for National Bank, as he scored the only goal of the match against

at 15th minutes. On 5 January 2008, Ali scored the equaliser against

Pakistan Television Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore. Background Historical co ...

at 68th minute as the match ended in a 1–1 draw. His fifth and last goal of the season came against PMC Club Athletico in a 5–2 victory. Ali scored in the National Bank's opening match against

Karachi Electric Supply Corporation Electric (KE) ( ur, ) (formerly known as Karachi Electric Supply Company / Karachi Electric Supply Corporation Limited) is a Pakistani investor-owned utility company based in Karachi. K-Electric is a privately owned and vertically-integrated e ...

, scoring equaliser on 37th minute, although National Bank lost the match 2–1. Ali scored in a 6–2 win over Afghan Chaman, Ali achieved a special feat in the match as he became the first player in the history of

Pakistan Premier League The Pakistan Premier League (PPL; ur, پاکستان پریمیئر لیگ) is a Pakistani professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Pakistan football league system, it is the country's primary football compe ...

to score a goal and an own goal in the same match when he scored for National Bank at 75th minute and earlier at 30th minute scored an own goal. On 22 October 2008, Ali scored a brace against Pakistan Steel, scoring goals in 22nd and 81st minutes. In the 2009–10 season Ali scored only one goal, he scored the equaliser against

WAPDA The Pakistan Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA; ur, ) is a government-owned public utility maintaining power and water in Pakistan, although it does not manage thermal power. WAPDA includes Tarbela and Mangla dams among its resources. ...

in 75th minutes, two minutes after Zulfiqar Shah had given the lead to WAPDA. Ali with National Bank finished 10th, their lowest ranking ever.

International career

Aged only 15, he earned his first senior international cap in a friendly against

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

in 6 April 2006. He was called by the Pakistan under 23 national team for the

2006 South Asian Games The 2006 South Asian Games (also known as the 10th South Asian Games) were held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 18 August to 28 August 2006, in the Sugathadasa Stadium with more than 2000 sportspersons competing in the record 20 disciplines of Sports ...

held in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, where he helped Pakistan win the gold medal. He was subsequently called for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in 2006.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Pakistan U-23

* South Asian Games:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Abbas 1990 births Living people Pakistani men's footballers Pakistan men's international footballers Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games Footballers from Quetta Men's association football defenders Asian Games competitors for Pakistan South Asian Games gold medalists for Pakistan South Asian Games medalists in football NBP FC players