Pakistan’s star player Kaleemullah Khan is shaping up at the right time for some scintillating displays in his first United Soccer League 2016, after joining an Oklahoma-based team.
Tulsa Roughnecks FC have picked the 23-year-old forward, whose speed and ball maneuvering ability have seen him peak to international fame in a matter of few years.
The gusty forward will play the season for the Tulsa Roughnecks FC, after a 4-month stint with Sacramento Republic FC this year, his first appearance for any US professional soccer team.
Khan, who hails from Chaman, Balochistan, was named captain of the Pakistan National Team in 2014, and is among the rare breed of Pakistani soccer players to earn international fame as a high-scorer.
He was part of the squad for the pre-qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup against Yemen featuring in both away and home legs. Khan began his career with a domestic club in Pakistan and won four league titles with the club before joining FC Dordoi in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in 2014. He helped his side win the league title, scoring 18 goals, before signing up with Sacramento Republic FC last year.
“It is exciting to add Kaleemullah to our club,” said Tulsa head coach David Irving in a statement posted on the team’s official website. “He is young player with great pace and skills who has a very high ceiling in the game. He didn’t get much playing time last season, but his goal scoring record in the past years has been phenomenal.”
According to Kaleemullah’s official website, he was Pakistan’s Premier League Top Goal-scorer in 2012 with 31 goals; named player of the year in 2013 by the Pakistan Football Federation and was Kyrgyzstan League Top Goal-scorer in 2014 with 18 goals. He was also named the best player of 2014 by the league.
While Pakistan is not a familiar name in world soccer, the South Asian country with nearly 190 million people has been a powerhouse in cricket, hockey, squash and snooker. Pakistan won world titles in every edition of the hockey, including Olympic and the World Cup. Pakistan had been the cricket world champions in both one-day and T-20 versions.
Pakistan once ruled the world of squash and reached its peak in the 1980s and 1990s. Between 1950 and 1997, Pakistan won over 30 British Open titles and 14 World Open titles. One of the Pakistani squash legends, Jahangir Khan is considered an all-time great in the history of the game. He won the World Cup six times, and the British Open record 10 times. Two of Pakistani players also won the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Snooker Championship in 1994 and 2012.
“I am very happy to be joining Tulsa Roughnecks for the USL 2016 season,” said Kaleemullah on the club’s website. “ I really look forward to having a long stay with the Tulsa fans even beyond this season.”
Kaleemullah is expected to be in Tulsa in late February or early March when the Roughnecks open preparations for their second season in USL, according to the website.
