KARACHI: The video shows seven-year-old Ehsan Ullah Khan in a Cristiano Ronaldo tee-shirt kicking a ball into a net hanging from the mud wall of his house in Baluchistan's far-flung Duki district. In a second video, the aspiring football star juggles the ball 221 times for 2 minutes and 19 seconds.

“I will do better with more practice,” the little football aficionado told Arab News via phone. He says Ronaldo was his favourite player and he aspired to be a star, just like him.

Ehsan is one of thousands of children who grow up playing football on the mean streets of Pakistan, but have little government support or opportunities for training given the lack of official interest in the sport.

According to records of global soccer body FIFA, Pakistan, 203rd of 211 teams in the world rankings, have not played a full international since a 0-0 draw with Yemen in a World Cup qualifier in March 2015.

“This kid Ehsan Ullah is simply brilliant. We will find many like him in Baluchistan but they don’t get the limelight,” said Kaleemullah Khan, a former captain of the Pakistan national team who now plays for the Turkish club Igdirspor in Istanbul.

Khan too comes from Baluchistan and said the province had incredible soccer talent.

"Without standardizing the game, this awesome talent will continue to spoil," he said. “Pakistan has only one player playing an international league, which shows we are lacking international standards and need a lot of improvement."

He said he was in talks with the Pakistani Football Federation and hoped they would accept his offer to train young footballers. 

In 2017, Pakistan was suspended from international football because of what global soccer body FIFA described as undue third-party interference in the country’s football federation (PFF). FIFA said in a statement that the suspension would prevent Pakistani teams, including the national side, from playing in international competitions and the PFF from benefiting from FIFA development and training programs.

Last year, the ban was lifted.

Fahad Ayaz Khan, Deputy General Secretary of the Pakistan Football Federation, said streamlining talent from far-flung areas in the country required that relevant sports federations set up active district bodies run by competent people who had the ability to work in line with a clearly defined strategy and well-thought out goals.

“Federations need to dedicate resources for talent hunt programmes designed for each age group," Khan said. "They need to liaison with relevant government departments for provision of facilities, engaging masses, local sponsors, media outlets and private and public educational institutions to enhance the outreach of the programme and engage maximum talent."

“It has to be part of a broader strategy to tap talent in every corner of Pakistan monitored by qualified experts in the relevant field," Khan said, adding that there was a need to define a progression path for talent from the district level to the national levels and provide them a conducive environment and facilities.

“Once the game gets proper patronage and attention followed by standard training and required facilities, the Ehsans of Balochistan can be sure stars like Ronaldo," former captain Khan said. 

Last week, football greats Luis Figo and Ricardo Kaka visited Pakistan to officially kick off World Soccer Stars 2019, which will feature two Kaka and Figo-led sides playing matches in Karachi and Lahore from April 26 and 29.