Kaleemullah Khan

Kaleemullah Khan (born 20 September 1992 ) is a Pakistani professional footballer.

Currently a free agent, he last played in the Iraqi Premier League for Zakho FC.

Khan plays as a midfielder or forward, and has been deployed in a variety of attacking roles – as an attacking midfielder, second striker, centre forward and on either wing.

He is the first Pakistani player ever to play and score in the United States, and also the first Pakistani player ever to score 100 career goals in club competitions.

He has been praised for his positioning, teamwork and stamina, and has shown consistency in scoring and creating goals.

Khan was born in the city of Chaman, in the Balochistan province of Pakistan.

He started playing for his local school team, in the Government High School Chaman.

In the beginning, his parents weren’t supportive of his interest in the sport due to the lack of football support and infrastructure in the country, but agreed to it when he signed a contract with the club AFC Chaman.

Khan made his Pakistan Premier League debut for AFC Chaman in the 2008–09 season.

KRL scouted him in a match against the team in 2009 when he came as a substitute and decided to sign him along with his fellow midfielder Mehmood Khan.

He made his debut with KRL on 27 July 2009 in a 3–0 win against Air Force, scoring his first goal in the 69th minute.

He finished the 2009-10 season with 4 goals in all competitions, as the club won the league and challenge cup, and qualified for the AFC President's Cup.

During the 2010-11 season, Khan was soon promoted to the first team by KRL manager Sajjad Mahmood.

Khan took his chance and was an important player in KRL's Challenge Cup-winning squad of the 2010-11 season, scoring the second goal of the 4–0 win against Pakistan Navy in the cup final.

Khan also made his debut AFC President's Cup on 10 May 2010 in a 2–1 win against Naga Corp from Cambodia, scoring both the goals in the continental club competition.

Khan also won the Challenge Cup with KRL (1–0) against rivals K-Electric in 2011.

Khan won the Pakistan Premier League with Khan Research Laboratories in 2012 as KRL set a Pakistan Premier League record scoring the most points in a season in the Pakistan Premier League with 77 points.

During 2012-13 season, he became involved in the first-team under then manager Tariq Lutfi who replaced manager Sajjad Mahmood the previous season; Khan established himself as a key player – playing almost in every match and scored 35 times to make him the league's all-time record top goal scorer.

The club clinched a historic double; winning the league title, the domestic cup and qualified for the AFC President's Cup for the following season – finishing runners-up in the competition losing (1–0) to Turkmenistan's Balkan.

Khan finished as the second top goal scorer of the continental cup with 7 goals behind Mirlan Murzaev, scoring 5 goals in an 8–0 group stage win against Yeedzin following with goals in 1–0 victory over Dordoi Bishkek from Kyrgyzstan and a 2–0 win against Hilal Al-Quds from Palestine in the final group stage.

Khan was awarded the player of the year award by Pakistan Football Federation and was declared the best player in the Pakistan Premier League for his performances domestically in the league and internationally at AFC President's Cup in 2013.

In 2013-14 season, Khan won his fourth and last league title with the Rawalpindi side.

Kaleemullah signed for FC Dordoi Bishkek in 2014, who was soon joined by his former club and Pakistan national team players Muhammad Adil and Saddam Hussain, by former Pakistan coach Zaviša Milosavljević, after his performances in AFC President's Cup 2013 on an initial five-month contract, wearing the Number 9 shirt.

After impressing during this five-month stint, Khan extended his contract by signing a new two-year contract with Dordoi in July 2014.

He played a major role in helping the team win a treble; the league title, league cup and super cup, finishing as top goal scorer, scoring 18 goals in 17 appearances in the league with 3 goals out of 3 appearances in the domestic league cup.

Khan's remarkable form and greater goals to appearance ratio for Dordoi Bishkek in the Shoro Top League as well as Kyrgyzstan Cup and Kyrgyzstan Super Cup in 2014 edition earned him the best player award in the league by the Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic.

In total, Kaleemullah finished with 21 goals in 21 matches in the 2014 season for his new club in all competitions.

Khan made his AFC Cup debut on 9 February 2015 in a 1–0 defeat against Turkmenistan side Ahal in the preliminary round.

In an interview with Express Tribune, Khan revealed that he has received letters from Þróttur Reykjavík from Iceland and Chongqing Lifan from China stating that 'they want him to train with the teams for at least a week'.

In May, Khan went on trial with United Soccer League side Sacramento Republic for their 2015 season campaign.

On 18 June 2015 it was announced that Kaleemullah had signed with the Sacramento Republic of the USL, the third tier of the United States soccer league system on a four-month contract.

At that time, it was believed that he was the first Pakistani-born player to sign a contract with a professional soccer club in the United States.

He made his debut for the club on 20 June 2015, two days after signing, entering the match as a 66th-minute substitute for captain Justin Braun.

The Republic won that match 2–1.

During the match, he made several runs and showed his skill on the ball and eye for passing.

He later described the match as a "dream debut."

On 16 December 2015, Tulsa Roughnecks FC announced the signing of Kaleemullah for the 2016 USL season.

In an interview after the move, Kaleemullah said he "couldn't settle in California [with Sacramento]" but that he hoped his transfer would reignite hopes of a "dream move" to the MLS.

On May 1, 2016, Khan scored his first goal for his club and first goal on American soil.

By doing so, he became the first Pakistani football player to play in US and score there.