Woking FC beat Pakistan International XI in an impressive 5-0 win.

A pre-season friendly between Surrey's Woking FC and Pakistan international XI took place at Kingfield Stadium on Sunday 1 August  2010. This unusual match up gathered an excited crowd to cheer on both teams, although it is reported that the majority of the crowd spurred on Pakistan.

The international side could not defend a seemingly unstoppable attack from Woking and after just 15 minutes from kick-off Woking proved their footballing superiority and stormed ahead into a 3-0 lead. All of these goals were scored by Woking striker Dave Gilroy, an impressive early hat-trick that will surely boost his confidence ahead of the 2010-2011 season.

Although Woking proved to be difficult opponents, Pakistan held in there and created chances before the half time whistle. Amjad Iqbal’s through ball set up Adam Karim but he was denied by solid defending by Ross Worner, only for moments later a missed shot from Adnan Ahmed as he struck a fierce effort over from outside the area.

The second half was quieter, although there were displays of attacking play by both teams. In the 65th minute, Joe McNerney (Woking) went close to getting on the score sheet twice in quick succession, first his powerful strike from a tight angle was cleared away by Yousuf Butt and then his header from Ademola’s cross bounced agonisingly across the goal line before being cleared. Pakistan XI threatened to pull one back but the closest they came was to force Pegler into a good save when Aneel Azeem shot at goal after good work from Shabir Khan.

In the 80th minute a fourth goal was added to Woking’s lead with a goal from Moses Ademola after receiving a pass from Sam Hurrell. With 1 minute before full time the home side added a further goal to their impressive win with Ademola once again striking the ball into the back of the net.

This match was organised by TouchSky Sports and aimed to demonstrate another side of Pakistan as it has been negatively portrayed in the media over recent times.

TouchSky Sports is working together with the Pakistan Football Academy, XI (Pakistan National League Rights Holders), the KASB Foundation, Geo Super League and Karachi United FC to develop football at grassroots level in Pakistan. The collective vision is to develop a football infrastructure in Pakistan which will be supported by the raw talent of footballers based abroad. The scheme will encourage greater community cohesion and improve the perception of Pakistanis in football and create more role models. UK born Pakistanis are encouraged to come forward and talk to the organisers regarding the scheme.