From Netherlands to Pakistan: For Kayanat Bokhari football is her passion

KARACHI: From top-quality football in the Netherlands to donning Pakistan’s colour for Kayanat Bokhari it is just about passion for the sport and her aim is to show how good Pakistan can be as far as women’s football is concerned.

Kayanat, an attacking midfielder for DSVP’ first women's team in the Netherlands, has joined Pakistan women’s football camp in Karachi to prepare for next month's friendlies. Her debut was delayed earlier due to documentation but now she’s all set to represent the country of her origin.

Bokhari told Geo News, after her first training session in Karachi, that she looks forward to work with the team to get to know these amazing girls.

“It's an amazing team with positive energy and have great coaches. So, I look forward to build with the team to win matches to win tournaments and just build together,” she said.

“My goal is to just grow as a player to have new experiences, to represent my country, for my parents, for myself, and to have accomplishments with the team. I just think it's really a team thing. I want to grow with the team and show how good Pakistan can be and that we can grow with the players we have,” she added.

Kayanat said that there’s a huge difference in grassroots football of the Netherlands and Pakistan and the players in the camp are eager to learn from her and it is reciprocal as she is also trying to learn from the local players.

“I think it goes like to the technical stuff mostly because the difference is too big but we can learn from each other. So, they learn from me. I learn for them,”

“In Holland, we have a lot of clubs that we can just join to. So, I've seen in Pakistan, we don't have that many clubs. So, Inshallah maybe in the future, it will be amazing to see more of the women's football and more grounds, more facilities, coaches, but I think this amazing team is a great example for the future,” she added.

Kayanat says that her parents are from Pakistan and she feels proud to represent the home country of her parents and now aims to make Pakistan proud.

The young Netherlands-based footballer has joined the Pakistan team at a time when there’s been a debate over the inclusion of diaspora players in the country’s football setup, men’s and women’s.

But Kayanat feels that there’s no such thing in the team and everyone is gelled together.

“I'm not saying this to make it sound better than it is. But actually, this team is just so welcoming. We have diaspora players, we have origin Pakistani players, but we go well together. There is a togetherness. Nobody feels left out in this team,” she concluded.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Football Federation has also started discussions with Singapore to arrange international friendlies during the FIFA window after talks with Mauritius and Kyrgyzstan didn’t work out.