Zesh Rehman

94||2||3||0||10||1||107||3

International career

Rehman always wanted to represent EnglandFact|date=August 2008, but becoming the first British Asian to don an England senior football shirt seemed too far away, due to lack of first team opportunities at Fulham. Because of his Pakistani parentage and possessing dual Pakistani and British nationality, he also qualified to represent Pakistan. At first he was reluctant to become a Pakistani international, but eventually opted for the Asian country, although a lot of British Asian groups were against this and wanted him to fight for an England place more to set a standard for British Asian youth.Fact|date=August 2008 It was, however, an unrealistic aspiration. With that in mind, and with the blessings of his father, Rehman made his international debut for Pakistan, on 7 December 2005 at Karachi against Sri Lanka in the 2005 SAFF Cup, receiving decent attention from the Pakistani media circles and fans. Pakistan ultimately reached the semi-finals before losing out to Bangladesh 1-0.

In that short space of time Rehman helped to raise the profile of the game in Pakistan, encouraging youngsters to play the game and also help to raise the profile of Pakistan in the United Kingdom and on a global stage.Fact|date=August 2008 Since then, worries of little first team action for club have made him ignore the AFC Challenge Cup 2006 and the AFC Asian Cup 2007 qualifiers for Pakistan, and consider his next move very carefully recognising that club football is the bread and butter but international football is also important.

Rehman was named in the Pakistan squad for the World Cup 2010 qualifiers against Iraq in October 2007, and played the match in Lahore but couldn't help contain the current Asian champions Iraq from winning 7-0. In the second leg, he put in a commanding display in the reverted 4-4-2 formation, leading Pakistan to a very credible 0-0 draw.

Due to club commitments and injury he had to miss out on the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers for Pakistan, a situation that proved costly for the national team as defensive blunders cost them the chance of qualifying despite a promising start to the campaign. He also had to miss SAFF Cup 2008 due to illness.

External links

* [http://www.zeshrehman.com/ Official website of Zesh Rehman]
* [http://www.qpr.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10373~24613,00.html Zesh Rehman player profile] at qpr.co.uk
*
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/5256446.stm QPR swoop to sign Fulham's Rehman]
* [http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=456306&plid=29351&clid=36&cpid=11 Seagulls land Rangers ace]
* [http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/april/12/sports/asian_origin_footballers_asked_to_stick_to_their_roots.html Asian origin footballers asked to stick to their roots]