KARACHI: World Cup winning field hockey goalkeeper Mansoor Ahmed Monday reached out to India for help in securing a heart transplant — despite years of breaking his rivals’ “hearts on the field”. The 49-year-old has been suffering for weeks from complications stemming from a pacemaker and stents implanted in his heart.

Ahmed has been a sporting icon in Pakistan since helping the country win the 1994 World Cup in Sydney with his penalty stroke push against the Netherlands in the final.

“I may have broken a lot of Indian hearts on the field of play by beating India in the Indira Gandhi Cup (1989) and in other events but that was sport,” Ahmed told AFP.

“Now I need a heart transplant in India and for that I need support from the Indian government.”

India-Pakistan ties, including sports and cultural contacts, plummeted after the 2008 militant attacks in Mumbai.—AFP