Easah Suliman, Harun Hamid, Simran Jhamat, Asmita Ale, Millie Chandarana and Imran Kayani are among the players who have enjoyed a brilliant week in the Beautiful Game; our resident expert Dev Trehan brings you all the details in the latest edition of South Asians in Football Weekly
Tuesday 17 October 2023 12:14, UK
The latest edition of South Asians in Football Weekly is out after another extraordinary week for the community in the Beautiful Game...
Former England youth skipper Easah Suliman helped guide Pakistan to the country's first-ever World Cup qualifier victory, less than six months after making his international debut for the country.
Suliman captained Pakistan in a goalless draw away at Cambodia last week before a solid defensive performance in the second leg in Islamabad. The Shaheens went on to win 1-0 thanks to a goal from fellow British-Pakistani youngster Harun Hamid, who was at QPR last season.
The match was Pakistan's first World Cup qualifier on home soil in more than a decade and their first World Cup qualifying victory in 34 attempts.
Pakistan are now through to the group stages in the second round of World Cup qualifying.
Former England U17 midfielder Rahis Nabi also featured in the games against Cambodia, but Grimsby Town midfielder Otis Khan was unable to take part after failing to receive international clearance to play.
Simran Jhamat scored twice as West Brom eased into the second round of the County Cup at the weekend.
Jhamat netted West Brom's opener against Leafield Athletic, with Delphi Cole, Meesha Dudley-Jones and Steph Weston also on target for the Baggies.
Jhamat, who features in the first-ever timeline and showcase documenting the journey of South Asian heritage players in the English women's game, rounded off the scoring in the closing stages as West Brom ran out 5-0 winners.
Asmita Ale was named Player of the Match after dazzling for Spurs in a thumping 6-0 Continental Tyres League Cup win against Reading.
Ale put in an all-action performance on the left-hand side for Spurs, setting up Zhang Linyan for Tottenham's opener as the China international got her first goal for the club just 10 minutes into her debut.
And the Nepali-heritage full-back got on the scoresheet herself just two minutes into the second half, cutting inside onto her right foot to curl past Reading goalkeeper Eve Annets with a brilliant finish.
Tottenham followed that up with an impressive 3-1 Women's Super League win away at Brighton as new head coach Robert Vilahamn made it three wins in all competitions for Spurs in the space of just seven days.
Speaking ahead of the season, Ale, praised Vilahamn's approach, adding the Swede has got Spurs playing without fear.
"It's really fresh now, with a new manager and new signing. He has got a different style, like the way he runs things," Ale told Sky Sports News.
"I like it, I think the girls like it. The days look a bit different, and we have a different style of play now. We just want to be aggressive on the press and brave on the ball and look for attacking patterns."
Blackburn Rovers stalwart Millie Chandarana was also on target in the Continental Tyres League Cup with her first goal of the season in a five-goal thriller with Durham.
The box-to-box midfielder, who featured alongside Ale in Sky Sports' 2022/23 South Asians in Football Team of the Season, put Rovers 2-1 up with an excellent strike.
Chandarana burst through midfield towards goal, drilling the ball beyond Durham goalkeeper Naoisha McAloon and into the bottom left corner of the net.
But Durham came on strong in the second half to nick the win as Rovers went down 3-2.
Imran Kayani was also back on the goal trail as he put in a Man of the Match performance for Whitehawk against Hashtag United.
Kayani's sweet left-footed strike looked like giving the Hawks all three points, but Hashtag hit back in injury time as both teams shared the spoils. The draw takes Whitehawk up to fourth in Isthmian Premier League table.
Vimal Yoganathan spoke to Sky Sports News recently after the Tamil trailbalzer made his first-team breakthrough with Barnsley.
The Sri Lankan-heritage midfielder came on during Barnsley's EFL Cup penalty shootout loss to Tranmere Rovers, before going on to play in the EFL Trophy wins over Grimsby Town and Manchester City's U21s.
Offering some words of advice for aspiring footballers, Yoganathan said: "If you train and put the dedication in, then you will hopefully become a footballer. It doesn't get much more complicated than that. If you work hard and you are dedicated to playing football then you will have a good chance of making it."
Sheffield United full-back Sai Sachdev has been on international duty with England U19s over the last week.
Sachdev put in assured performance to help England clean sheet in a goalless draw away at Montenegro in the group stages of Euro qualifying.
Rohan Luthra opened up to Slough Town's club channels to reflect on the early part of his loan spell with the Rebels.
In late August, Sky Sports News revealed trailblazing Cardiff City goalkeeper Luthra was poised to join Slough on a season-long loan.
The 6ft 5in Punjabi stopper kept his first clean sheet last month, and looks to have cemented his position as the club's first-choice goalkeeper.
"My experience so far has been unbelievable, everyone has been really welcoming," Luthra told www.sloughtownfc.net.
"Everyone is really friendly here. I've been enjoying it so far and I'm just relishing the games."
Aqsa Mushtaq made a winning debut for OFI Crete in the top division of Greek football at the weekend.
The attacking midfielder played as OFI Crete ran out 2-0 winners against Atromitos.
Sky Sports News exclusively revealed that Mushtaq was on the verge of joining OFI Crete after deciding to return to Greece to play club football following a successful stint at Avantes Chalkida.
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