Muhammad Essa

Muhammad Essa Khan (Urdu, Pashto: محمد عیسیٰ خان; born 20 November 1983) is a Pakistani football manager and former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is the current head coach of KRL FC in the Pakistan Premier League. Essa is one of the most well known faces in Pakistani football, due to his regular goal scoring at the international level.

Muhammad Essa
Personal information
Full name Muhammad Essa Khan
Date of birth (1983-11-20) 20 November 1983
Place of birth Chaman, Balochistan, Pakistan[1]
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Centre Forward
Team information
Current team
 Khan Research Laboratories (manager)
Youth career
1999–2000 Afghan FC Chaman
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2004 Pakistan Telecommunication 34 (7)
2004–2005 Afghan Chaman 22 (12)
2005–2007 WAPDA F.C.
2007–2009 Khan Research Laboratories
2009–2017 K-Electric
International career
1999–2006 Pakistan U23 10 (5)
2001–2009 Pakistan 37 (11)
Managerial career
2017–2018 K-Electric (assistant)
2018–2019 Pakistan (assistant)
2019–2020 K-Electric
2023– Khan Research Laboratories
Medal record
Representing  Pakistan
WinnerSouth Asian Games2004
WinnerSouth Asian Games2006
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in the city of Chaman in Pakistan's Balochistan province, he played in the Afghan Football Club Chaman youth team before signing for PTCL FC, with whom he won the old PFF President's Cup in 2003. In the inaugural Pakistan Premier League season in 2004, he returned to his home town club Afghan FC Chaman, with his goals helping them to survive relegation. The following season, he transferred to WAPDA, but could not help them retain their Pakistan Premier League title; finishing second to Pakistan Army.

In 2005, he was offered a playing contract from major Indian football team East Bengal Club after his stellar performance in the international friendly series against India, but it seemingly failed to materialise after the club decided to retain the striker Bhaichung Bhutia for the next season.[2][3][4]

He moved to Khan Research Laboratories, and helped them finish third in the 2006–07 season. The same year, he played in the Geo Super Football League for Quetta Zorawar as captain. Although his team came second in the league round and lost in the semi-final in the knock-out round of the tournament, he was awarded the SFL 2007 Player of the Tournament trophy.

In 2009, he moved to K-Electric, where he served both as a player and assistant coach in the last years.[5]

International career

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 2001. In 2004, Essa was called up to the Pakistan U-23 squad for the 2004 South Asian games. He ended the tournament as top scorer and was player of the tournament, and helped Pakistan win the gold medal.[6] His goal in the semi final against Sri Lanka which ultimately ended in a 1–1 draw until the penalty shootout took Pakistan all the way to the final against India, where Abdul Aziz's goal gave Pakistan a 1–0 victory.

In 2006, he led the Pakistan under 23 side at the 2006 South Asian Games, winning another gold medal.[7] After advancing from the group stages, Essa's strike against Nepal led Pakistan to the final against Sri Lanka, which ended in a victory for the Green Shirts thanks to a goal by Adeel Ahmed in the half time.[8]

Essa scored his first senior international goal in a free-kick against India, in the first match of the 2005 Pakistan-India friendly series at the Ayub National Stadium in Quetta to tie the game 1–1 with minutes to go before the final whistle.[9][10][11] He scored again in the 3–0 win against India at the Punjab Stadium in Lahore.[12]

He retained his captaincy for the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification campaign. Despite a 2–0 win against Chinese Taipei in the first match, Pakistan 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 2008 SAFF Championship.

He retired from the national team during the 2009 SAFF Championship, after a fallout with the international team manager György Kottán.[13][14][15]

Managerial career

Essa served K-Electric both as a player and assistant coach while attaining the AFC B coaching license.[5]

He was appointed as assistant coach of the Pakistan national team in 2018,[16] lasting during the tenure of former PFF president Faisal Saleh Hayat, who was ousted by FIFA in June 2019.[17] He returned to K-Electric as head coach until the team got disbanded in 2020.[5] He joined KRL as the head coach in January 2023.[5]

Personal life

On 13 August 2007, Essa was awarded the Salaam Pakistan Award alongside tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and female squash player Maria Toorpakai for their contributions to sport by the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf.[18]

In 2009, he opened an academy at his home town in Chaman, called the Essa Khan Academy.[19]

Career statistics

International
Appearances and goals by year and competition[1]
National team Year Apps Goals
Pakistan 2001 6 0
2003 2 0
2005 7 3
2006 9 4
2007 2 0
2008 5 2
2009 6 2
Total 37 11

International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
112 June 2005Ayub National Stadium, Quetta, Pakistan India1–11–1Friendly
218 June 2005Punjab Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan India1–03–0Friendly
39 December 2005People's Football Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan Afghanistan1–01–02005 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup
41 March 2006National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan United Arab Emirates1–01–42007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
52 April 2006Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh Kyrgyzstan1–01–02006 AFC Challenge Cup
66 April 2006Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh Macau2–12–22006 AFC Challenge Cup
716 August 2006Jinnah Sports Stadium, Islamabad, Pakistan Oman1–31–42007 AFC Asian Cup qualification
825 March 2008Pokhara Rangasala, Pokhara, Nepal   Nepal1–01–2Friendly
92 April 2008Chungshan Soccer Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan Chinese Taipei1–12–12008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification
108 December 2009Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh Bhutan1–07–02009 SAFF Championship
116–0

Honours

Pakistan Telecommunication

Khan Research Laboratories

K-Electric

Pakistan U23

References
  1. Muhammad Essa at National-Football-Teams.com
  2. "Bhutia with us, say East Bengal - Times of India". The Times of India. 25 July 2005. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  3. Chhaya, M (20 June 2005). "East Bengal eye Pakistan striker". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  4. "Essa invited to play for East Bengal in Calcutta". Business Recorder. 20 June 2005. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  5. "Essa joins KRL as coach, preparing for Challenge Cup". www.thenews.com.pk. 21 January 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  6. "9th South Asian Federation Games 2004 (Pakistan)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  7. "10th South Asian Federation Games 2006 (Colombo)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  8. "Pakistan defeat Lanka for football gold in SAF". Hindustan Times. 28 August 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  9. "Pakistan-India opening match ends in draw". Dawn. 13 June 2005. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  10. "Pakistan hold India 1-1 in football series opener". Business Recorder. 13 June 2005. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  11. Banerjee, Ritabrata (12 June 2021). "Indian Football: Did Sunil Chhetri score on international debut 16 years ago? | Goal.com". Goal. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  12. "Pakistan beat India, tie football series". Rediff.com. 19 June 2005. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  13. Ahsan, Ali (5 January 2018). "The decade-long decline of Pakistani football after a rare high". These Football Times. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  14. "Mohammad Essa (footballer)". Dawn. 13 August 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  15. Wasim, M. (8 January 2011). "Comment: A year Pakistan football wants to forget". The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on 10 February 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  16. "PFF should expand coaching staff: Nasir". www.thenews.com.pk. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  17. "PFF Normalisation Committee changes composition of provincial bodies". DAWN.COM. 12 April 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  18. "Essa gets 'Salaam Pakistan Award'". The News International. 16 August 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  19. Editorial Staff (21 September 2011). "Essa: I want to coach after retirement". FootballPakistan.com (FPDC). Retrieved 7 July 2023.
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