Muhammad Essa

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Personal information
Muhammed Essa
Full name	Muhammed Essa Khan
Date of birth	November 20, 1983 (1983-11-20) (age 24)
Place of birth	Chaman, Pakistan
Playing position	Striker and Supporting striker
Club information
Current club	KRL FC
Number	9
Youth clubs
	Afghan FC
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006- 2007	PTCL FC Afghan FC WAPDA FC KRL FC Quetta Zorawar	? (?) ? (?) ? (?) ? (?) 08 (6)
National team²
2000-present	Pakistan	046 (20)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. ² National team caps and goals correct as of April 6, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Medal record
Competitor for Pakistan
South Asian Games
Men’s Football
Gold	2004 Islamabad	Team
Gold	2006 Colombo	Team

Muhammad Essa (Urdu/Pashto: محمد عيسى خان) (born on November 20, 1983) is a Pakistani footballer playing currently for KRL FC. The striker is also the captain of Pakistan national football team and is one of the most talented football players Pakistan has seen in recent times. He can be used as a playmaker particularly in support of a striker, or a genuine centre forward because of his ball holding and passing skills. He is also a left-footed free-kick specialist. Essa has become one the most well known faces in Pakistani football, due to his regular goal scoring at international level.

[edit] 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 couldn't 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.

There had been talk of a few Iranian clubs, notably Foolad F.C. as well as Homa F.C. inviting Essa over for a trial during the previous season but it couldn't be finalised due to Essa's commitments with KRL.^{[citation needed]} A proposed move to prominent Bangladesh Pro League side Mohammedan Sporting Club also failed to materialise. Towards the end of 2008, Essa and his fellow Pakistan team-mate goalkeeper Jaffer Khan were offered reserve team contracts by FC Barcelona; the contract also included coaching the youth team. Jaffer said that there were some problems both personal and regarding the PFF in going to Spain and settling into a totally new culture, but they were considering the move.

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 August 13, 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.

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].

Mohammad Essa can be described as a very capable player whose performances for Quetta Zorawar in Geo Super Football League were very delightful to watch.He can be described as a rare talent with the potentential of gaining massive success. Muhammad Essa has the ability of running quickly anbd score with an outstanding finish.