Alam Zeb Safi [The News]
KARACHI: The AFC Challenge Cup football qualifiers are a big challenge for Pakistan team keeping in view the strength of the opponents but head coach Tariq Lutfi is confident that his side will give a tough time to their rivals in Group B slots penciled in for March 21 to 25 in Kuala Lumpur.
“I feel that Turkmenistan, India and Chinese Taipei are tough sides and they have also prepared well on foreign soil but we have also formed a better side and will give them tough time,” Lutfi told ‘The News’ in an interview here on Wednesday.
Pakistan will face Turkmenistan on March 21, followed by their matches against India on March 23 and Chinese Taipei on March 25.
The coach will give the list of the final 20 players to the PFF on Thursday (today) for formal approval and the team will fly out for Kuala Lumpur via Thailand on Friday night (tomorrow).
“I don’t want to disclose the final names at this stage as it will hurt those who are not part of the team and will give the PFF the final list on Thursday,” Lutfi said.
However, it is confirmed that experienced striker Arif Mehmood, Mohammad Qasim, foreign-based Atif Bashir, Adnan Farooq and Kashif Mumtaz Siddiqui are part of the team.
Midfielder Abdul Aziz, who was snubbed for the Asian Games last year, is also expected to make a comeback. Pakistan will rely on their young gloveman Mohammad Omar and Aamir Gul after Denmark-based Yousuf Butt was already dropped after failing to impress in the first-leg of the Olympic qualifier against Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on February 23.
Defender Samar Ishaq is expected to be made captain as he is the best choice available with the management as the KRL player has sufficient international experience.
With young midfielder Mohammad Tauseef and experienced defender Mohammad Haji out of the team with serious injuries, the team is having more than fifty percent those young players who have taken part in the Olympic qualifiers.
“More than fifty percent of the lot consists of those young guns who have played in the Olympic qualifiers, while the rest are seniors,” Lutfi said.
He admitted that Pakistan may face problem in their finishing. “Finishing is the area of concern but it cannot be corrected overnight. We recently in the Olympic qualifiers created several chances but could not avail. Scoring is a delicate area and will take time to improve,” he said.
“We have Mohammad Qasim, Jadeed Khan, Arif Mehmood, Rizwan Asif in our frontline and hope that they will not disappoint us in the coming event,” Lutfi said.
Lutfi was happy with the soft coordination between the juniors and seniors. “All the seniors including foreign-based are full of praise for the junior players. I feel that a competitive environment will be produced in the team,” Lutfi said.
I would drop Zesh and Samar Ishaq from the current 22 man roster in order to form the final 20 man squad. Zesh has not yet joined the camp, so it is useless to include him given that he has only played together with a couple of the current players previously. Samar Ishaq must not be given the captaincy, rather he should be given the boot!! Arif Mehmood, Abdul Aziz, or Atif Bashir should be given the captaincy.
Darren Ibrahim,
Here is another Pakistani Goal Keeper (Dartford fc) which can take place yousaf butt.
http://www.dartfordfconline.com/site/?q=players/first-team/deren-ibrahim
Muhammad Anjum Sabeeh your choice is goog
hes half turkish from what i have read and not pakistani….
This day was gonna come when the coach has rated Taiwan better than his own team…we are not asking for a tough fight…its qualification to next round or bye bye…simple as that!
Lutfi is going to mess it up…. we need more overseas players in the final squad !!!!!!!!
v cannot take any risks…
Hope Zesh Rehman joins the team in Malayisa!!
How about the player who plays for Sydney FC, he should be in the squad…
He was not from Sydney FC..probably just a sifarshi..who got his 20mn fame and then went off….
More foreigners will only come with change of culture and attitude becuse a lot of them are new and wont be pleased when treated like dirt…people like Nabil Aslam, Hassan Bashir and Luke Dean etc would add great deal of strength but not until a foreign coach or professional coach is in place…
Agree !!!
I just dont understand, how the hell can someone not realize that Samar Ishaq cannot compete at international level. HE HAS SUCKED IN EVERY GAME I dont know how else to explain it, he has experience at losing.
To be fair though, he is decent when partnered with Atif at CB. But I would like to see Atif partnered with a better CB than Samar.
decent doesnt win games, and Atif cant cover for him all the time. Im more confident in Manzoor or Alamgir, theyre not like amazing or anything but theyre better that Samar Ishaq.
i still dont understand why half of the squad is made with young players. please some1 explain to me
aap sab dekhna, INSHALLAH pakistan team bohat acha perfom kare gi. bcuz unky saath best coach hai.. aur team k behtar rizald k liye ak achy coach ka rool bohat importend hota hai… bcuz best coach he best team selact karta hai, aur team ko khelaana, aur laraana jaanta hai…. aur TARIQ LUTFI ne 2 baar pakistan ko gold madle jetwaaya hai, INSHALLAH es baar bhi unky qadam pakistan team k liye kaamyaabi ka sabab bany gay..
hamaari dua pakistan team ki jeet k liye hain…