Muhammad Essa

Muhammad Essa Khan (Urdu/Pashto: محمد عیسیٰ خان; born on 20 November 1983) is a former Pakistani footballer and current assistant coach of Pakistan national football team and K-Electric F.C. He was the captain of Pakistan national football team and was one of the most talented football players Pakistan had seen then. He was used as a playmaker particularly in support of a striker, or a genuine centre forward because of his ball holding and passing skills. He was a left-footed free-kick specialist. Essa is one of the most well known faces in Pakistani football, due to his regular goal scoring at international level.

Muhammad Essa
Personal information
Full name Muhammad Essa Khan
Date of birth (1983-11-20) 20 November 1983
Place of birth Chaman, Balochistan, Pakistan[1]
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Centre Forward
Youth career
1999–2000 Afghan FC Chaman
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2004 Pakistan Telecommunication 34 (7)
2004–2005 Afghan Chaman 22 (12)
2005–2007 Water & Power Development Authority 0 (0)
2007–2009 Khan Research Laboratories 72 (19)
2009–2017 K-Electric – (–)
National team‡
1999–2006 Pakistan U23 10 (5)
2000–2009 Pakistan 36 (10)
Teams managed
2018– Pakistan (assistant coach)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 August 2015 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:47, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

Career highlights

Born in the football-mad city of Chaman in Pakistan's Balochistan province, he took up the game with great interest and passion. He played in the Afghan Club Chaman youth team before signing for PTCL FC.

He was discovered by then Pakistan youth team and Under 23 manager John Layton back in early 1999 and found his way into the Pakistan national football team soon enough, receiving his first cap in 2000.

He won the old 2003 PFF President's Cup with PTCL FC. In 2004, Essa was called up to the Pakistan U23 squad for the SAF Games. He ended the tournament as top scorer and was player of the tournament, and helped Pakistan win Gold.

Essa most famous moment came when he scored from a free-kick against India in the first match of the 2005 Pakistan-India friendly series, at the Ayub National Stadium, Quetta to tie the game 1–1 with minutes to go before the final whistle. With a 3–0 victory in the final game in which Essa scored, he was offered a playing contract from major Indian football team East Bengal Club, but the PFF seemingly turned it down to the disappointment of many Pakistani football fans.

In the inaugural 2004 PPL season he returned to his home town club Afghan Club Chaman with his goals helping them to survive relegation. The following season, the striker transferring to WAPDA FC but could not help them retain their PPL title; finishing second to Pakistan Army FC. In 2006, he captained Pakistan to another SAF Games gold medal. Returning from the Games, he moved to KRL and helping them finish 3rd in the 2006–07 season.

A proposed move to prominent Bangladesh Pro League side Mohammedan Sporting Club also failed to materialise.

Essa played in the Geo Super Football League for Quetta Zorawar as captain with the club coming second in the league round and losing semi-finalists in the knock-out round of the tournament, although he was awarded the SFL 2007 Player of the Tournament trophy. The striker was awarded the 'Salaam Pakistan Award' alongside tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and female squash player Maria Toor Pakay for their contributions to sport by the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf on 13 August 2007. He captained Pakistan to a surprise nil-nil draw against Iraq in Syria in the second leg of the World Cup 2010 qualifiers, but were knocked out due to a 7–0 aggregate loss.

Once he played for shahbaz united and was substituted after missing a penalty kick. Shahbaz united eventually won that match against KRL when Nanoo scored a hat trick and Aziz Laris scored winner. In the 2007/08 season of the PPL, Essa struggled to score goals, only scoring 9 goals in 21 appearances. He retained his captaincy for the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualifying campaign. Despite a 2–0 win against Chinese Taipei in the first match, they lost 7–1 to Sri Lanka which made Pakistan's 9–2 demolition of Guam meaningless as they finished behind on points to Sri Lanka, thus failing to qualify for the main round. Because of injury, Essa had to miss the SAFF Cup 2008.

In 2009, he opened an academy at his home town in Chaman, called the Essa Khan Academy.

International career stats

Goals for Senior National Team
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
128 March 2004Qayyum Stadium, Peshawar, Pakistan Afghanistan1–03–02004 South Asian Games
23–0
31 April 2004Jinnah Sports Stadium, Islamabad, Pakistan Bangladesh1–01–02004 South Asian Games
43 April 2004Jinnah Sports Stadium, Islamabad, Pakistan Sri Lanka1–01–12004 South Asian Games
59 December 2005Peoples Football Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan Afghanistan1–01–02005 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup
61 March 2006National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan United Arab Emirates1–01–42007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
72 April 2006Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh Kyrgyzstan1–01–02006 AFC Challenge Cup
86 April 2006Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh Macau2–12–22006 AFC Challenge Cup
916 August 2006Jinnah Sports Stadium, Islamabad, Pakistan Oman1–31–42007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
1025 March 2008Pokhara Rangasala, Pokhara, Nepal   Nepal1–01–2Friendly
112 April 2008Chungshan Soccer Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan Chinese Taipei1–12–12008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification
128 December 2009Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh Bhutan1–07–02009 SAFF Championship
136–0

Honours

Club
Pakistan Telecommunication
Khan Research Laboratories
K-Electric

International
Pakistan

References
  1. "Muhammad Essa". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
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