Pakistan's Mini Brazil: A Football Odyssey in the Heart of Lyari

 

Pakistan's Mini-Brazil, Photo Credit: Freepik.com 

Sunday is a off day. However, for Sunny Baloch* , 28, a football fanatic from the neighbourhood of Lyari, it is no less than a carnival. He recalls how the football-crazed residents of Lyari come together during the FIFA World Cup. The last gathering, during the previous year's FIFA World Cup, saw over 20,000 Lyari residents flocking to Maulvi Usman Park to support the Argentinean skipper, Lionel Messi.

" I wanted Lionel Messi to crown his sparkling career with victory in that World Cup, and the skipper proved me right. " He tells with a gleam in his eyes.

 Despite his respect for Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, and other football forwards and captains, Sunny’s love for Messi knows no bounds.

For this soccer-crazed neighborhood, the World Cup is a festival. The narrow streets are adorned with the paintings of the footballers they love and support, especially from the Brazilian team and residents wear the jerseys of their favourite players and teams. Neymar, Ronaldo and Messi are the most popular of the players. With their rooftops witnessing the flags of their favourite teams, there are fireworks on their team's triumph. 

Despite facing dysfunctional schools, a lack of potable water, scarce jobs, poorly maintained roads, and security threats, it is the lack of government support for their favourite game that compounds their misery. Lyari, a neighbourhood in the city of lights which was once a hotbed of violence and gang wars, now breathes peace, prosperity, and tranquility.

" It was a hub of violence. You never saw anyone going through the narrow streets late at night back then.The newspapers were flooded with reports of robberies, targeted killings, and gang violence," Sunny recalls as he tends to his child in Lyari’s Chakiwara. "However, things have changed for the better, and the people have carved out hope despite very difficult living conditions. Lyari has produced many soccer players like Ali Nawaz Baloch, Turab Ali, and Mohammad Omar."

Sunny Baloch sells fritters and samosas in the mornings and practices football in the evenings in the locality . He started playing football when he was 13 besides being enrolled in a local madressah.

" In the morning, I was sent to a nearby madressah and in the evenings my father insured that I play football. Perhaps he wanted to keep me away from the menace of drug addiction and gangs which Lyari was infamous for at that time." 

Although he has remained unemployed for much of his life, he prides himself on completing his education.

" Getting a job is a distant dream for many in Lyari. When you are appointed as a peon, it is a matter of pride here." Sunny unveils. I asked Sunny to explain the absence of female footballers. He says that they had female footballers too but with separate teams and grounds.

Female footballers beating all odds

Lyarites with Brazilian flag. Photo Credit: Freepik.com 

My odyssey to cover female soccer players started from Aat Chowk [Hashth Chowk in Balochi] to the old Goolimaar near Gutter Bagicha.

At a stones throw, we found Maryiam Darzada*, a female player full of life and her curly hair dyed brown. When I approached her, she shys away in the beginning and requests me to not mention her by her real name. She tells me to call her by that name.

The news of Lyari's untiring spirit of football reached FIFA's president ,Gianni Infantino, on the visit of Pakistan's the then-foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to Qatar in 2022.

" I came across a tweet of him [ Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari] telling that he had discussed Lyari’s football potential with FIFA's president. Unfortunately, this isn't the only time, Lyari has been fed false promises for ages. Let alone investing on football players, nobody supports it, neither provincially nor on a national level. " Maryiam Darzada points out.

The sadness in Maryiam's voice is palpable. Despite the social media uproar, the army of footballers stacked in the area, their supporters in and out of the locality, and inconsistent reporting, the response from the provincial and federal governments to support and invest on the country's football team has been wishy-washy.

No matter if or not the Brazilians or Argentineans know that their flags fly high in Lyari, it has soccer players that can grow to be world class.

The neighbourhood has 117 registered clubs along with 10 coaching academies teaching football free of cost. As per as Maryiam's coach, Lyari has potential footballers upto 12 years and the bigger are not trained due to the lack of exposure and support. 

" Lyari is a growing hub of football and boxing. Its Kalashnikovs have been replaced by footballs. Perhaps the day is not far when these emerging champs would end up pitching their names on the golden pages of history someday." The coach says as she gives a short pass to maryam. 

Maryam's coach ,19, who is also a female insists me to not include her name. " Not in the wildest of your dreams." She says.

 She has to confront serious reservations about playing football right now from her husband.  " When I was a child of the age of 12, I was sent to the Rising Stars Football Academy which is a small football academy in Lyari in the UC 8. Due to my family's disadvantaged economical background, I took free tuitions from a local school. The football academy being run by Murad [a famous footballer from the outskirts of Lyari], taught football free of cost to the children of the ages of 6 to 15. " She recalls. " I had to face much misgivings about the game, particularly from my father. My mother, however, loved football and resisted the family's status quo." 

"During the peak of the gang war, my father gave me an ultimatum: end up playing football or marry. And then I was tied the note to a second cousin. Though my husband has no reservations on me playing it, he only tells me to be a coach. " Maryiam's coach explains when she is told from one of her students that Richarlison scissor's kick for Brazil against Serbia was voted the best goal of 2022's FIFA World Cup.

According to Maryiam's coach, Coach Murad, was very close to them. The coach often recounted that football started getting famous in Lyari in the 19th century like other port cities. As Lyari is a land with the port Qasim nearby, with ships and vessels being loaded, unloaded and docked here by foreigners, they played the game in their leisure time. As time elapsed, the game began to expand and gradually gained popularity.

The neighbourhood of Lyari is famous for short passess due to the shortage of grounds and narrow alleyways. Almost every boy’s hairstyle resembles an international soccer player, especially Neymar, Ronaldo, Messi, and Brazilian team members. Kylian Mbappe is also grabbing fame in the congested area of the Mini Brazil, securing 8 goals in previous year's FIFA World Cup, with the golden boot in his court.

"Unfortunately, this is all Pakistanis can do in regards of football: celebrate the World Cup and produce footballs. We are nowhere when it comes to playing it. Forget international football, even our domestic football structure is negligible. But mark my word, those who tackle challenging situations often earn name and fame. " Maryiam ends. 

Auspiciously , Lyari has been represented internationally. The unending love for the South American team was broadcasted on a Brazilian local media channel last year. Better late than never, Lyari is getting some international encouragement. No matter if or not the Brazilians or Argentineans know that their flags fly high in Lyari, it has soccer players that can grow to be world class.

Watching Lyarites fills me with joy because these people are full of life and excitement - a colossal asset for the country. We must appeal to the federal and provincial governments to immediately implement plans for better education, economic development, civic improvements, and sports facilities in this prodigious neighborhood. We might see our own Messis and Neymars emerging from Lyari.

Names have been changed to protect Privacy.