Haroon Yousaf

Haroon Yousaf (born 10 November 1973) is a Pakistani former footballer. He played as a midfielder and defender. A former captain of the Pakistan national team, Yousaf played 49 full internationals for Pakistan between 1992 and 2003 and scored 3 goals.

Early life Yousaf was born on 10 November 1973 in Mandi Bahauddin, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. He was introduced to football by PTCL coach Inamullah, and also received training from former national captain Riasat Ali.

Club career

Early career Yousaf played for Lahore clubs Allah-o-Akbar, and City FC in his youth. He also played briefly for departmental teams of PTCL and Pakistan Airlines, but his stay there did not last because of internal problems within the departments and housing issues.

Railways In 1990, Yousaf joined departmental side of Pakistan Railways.

Yousaf also represented Defence Club at the 1993–94 Asian Club Championship qualifying round against Oman Club. He also won the President PFF Cup four times with Allied Bank in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2002.

PMC Athletico Faisalabad Yousaf became one of the founder members of PMC Club Athletico Faisalabad, remaining as captain of the team. In the 2010–11 Pakistan Premier League, he played a crucial role in surviving the relegation despite his age being more than 37 years old, after scoring last-minute penalty goal in a 2–1 victory against Baloch Nushki, allowing PMC Athletico the needful three points and to prevent the relegation. He also inspired the team from the brink of relegation by beating hosts Afghan FC Chaman by 1–0 in final game of the season.

International career Yousaf got selected by the Pakistan under-19 national team for the 1992 AFC Youth Championship qualifiers in Kannur, India. He remained captain of the national side in several events including 1999 South Asian Games, 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification, 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, 2003 SAFF Gold Cup, and the 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification in 2003 where he played his last game against Singapore. In March 2001, he led the team during Pakistan's tour to England in matches against Bury and Coventry City.

Yousaf was dropped from the squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification in November 2003 against Kyrgyzstan by the Pakistan Football Federation Selection Committee due to his declining form, on the contrary head coach Tariq Lutfi insisted on retaining him, controversially and allegedly naming Yousaf as the captain while the squad was even not announced. Yousaf was eventually replaced as captain for goalkeeper Jaffar Khan for the tournament.

Coaching career In November 2009, Yousaf completed the AFC C Certificate football coaching course from Iranian coach Ardeshir Pournemat in Lahore. In 2020, he was appointed head coach of the Punjab team for the Chief Minister Gold Cup Football Tournament in Quetta.

Personal life Haroon has five brothers and seven sisters and he is the second oldest of his brothers. One of his brothers, Iqbal Yousaf played in the Punjab football team at the National Football Championship as defender.

Career statistics

International Scores and results list Pakistan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yousaf goal.

Honours

WAPDA National Football Championship: 1991

Allied Bank National Football Championship: 1997 (1), 1999, 2000 President PFF Cup: 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002