When it just couldn’t get any worse for Zavisa Milosavljevic’s Pakistan U22 in the AFC U22 Asian Cup qualifiers, Syria won 4-0 at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia. The heavy defeat at the hands of dominant and merciless Syrians made Pakistan’s already hapless U22 campaign turn from bad to worse as the boys were thoroughly out-classed, out-performed, and out-shone the entire game.
As was the case with the 2-0 loss at hands of Kyrgyzstan, Syria pressed Pakistan hard from the start as they created a ridiculous number of chances in first half, only for goalkeeper Saqib Hanif to deny the Syrians each and every time. Pakistan’s midfield was non-existent and defence failed to keep shape as Syria’s short slick passing made Zavisa’s boys run around aimlessly on the pitch. Whenever Pakistan did get the ball, a clumsy long-ball or panicked clearance would gift the ball back to Syria almost immediately.
Syria then won a penalty after a foul by Saqib Hanif on Syrian striker that was quite similar to West German goalie Harald Schumacher’s challenge on French player Patrick Battison in 1982 World Cup. However, Syria failed to score as the penalty hit the cross bar and out. Moments later, some good play by striker Muhammad bin Younis made Muhammad Adil clean through on goal but his shot was horribly off-target as Pakistan’s poor finishing dilemma continued again and again.
Syria responded with a goal minutes later as make-shift defender Saddam Hussain, who had otherwise enjoyed a good tournament in defence, failed to mark the pacey Syrian captain Marek Mardakian and allowing him to score past a hapless Saqib. With the game approaching half-time, Syria won another penalty, this time Saddam being the culprit for a clumsy foul in the box. But Syria missed the penalty again as Saqib Hanif guessed right and saved the attempt from Marek Mardakian in style. 1-0 to Syria at half time.
The 2nd half saw Syria pile on the pressure as they created chances almost every minute and went 2-0 up in no time as substitute Hamid Mido (57′) scored immediately after coming on. Zavisa brought on under-fire skipper Kaleem Ullah for Zakir Lashari hoping to see him make amends for his poor performance in tournament. But he failed to impress as his poor decision making and needless attempts to dribble past as many as 3 Syrian defenders only made the Pakistan bench wince again and again.
Saqib Hanif’s save after save could not deny Syrians twice more as they scored twice more in last 25 minutes to make it 4-0 and add insult to injury with goals from Mahmoud Almawas (65′) and Salem (90+4′). Syria registered an astonishing 23 shots on target the entire game with Pakistan barely managing 2 at the other end.
The win made Syria confirm a place in the main round of the AFC U22 Asian Cup, as they joined host Saudi Arabia from Group B who had earlier thrashed Sri Lanka 7-0 the same day.
Pakistan now lie bottom of the group with just 1 point from 3 games, and a goal difference of -7 with the game against fellow eliminated side Palestine remaining on 3 July.
What had began as a promising event for Pakistan’s ‘next generation’ to make a name for themselves on the international stage, has only crashed and burned as the age old problems of poor finishing and poor coordination in both midfield and defence remain unsolved against more stronger opponents. All those impressive results in tours of Thailand, Bahrain, Palestine proved to be a false dawn as the very systemic and organisational defects of Pak football were exposed once again.
The cardinal sin of hurriedly losing the ball in panic was what something former coach Dave Burns once said 11 years ago that Pakistani players treated the ball as a ‘hot potato’. Over all, player performances remain mediocre, with only goalkeeper Saqib Hanif being worthy of praise for keeping Pakistan from further embarrassments in the tournament.
It would be harsh to lay the blame of the Serbian coach Zavisa Milsaveljevic, as his players seem to have forgotten all the hard efforts he put in and went back on rash instinct in the games against Kyrgyzstan and Syria. Truth be told, this team is simply not good enough as a unit and as individuals apart from the odd flash of sensible football.
With the result further putting a hammer blow on Pakistan’s morale, it is now important for the boys to bite the bullet and go all out against fellow strugglers Palestine in the final group game to salvage any bit of pride it can.
The road for progress in Pakistani football remains a long bleak road few understand, and fewer even care about.
| SYRIA |
4 |
1 |
1st Half |
0 |
0 |
PAKISTAN |
| 3 |
2nd Half |
0 |
|
Ext. Time |
|
|
Penalty Kick |
|
|
 |
90 minutes |
 |
MUAYAD ALKHOULI |
 |
very hot |
 |
40 C |
|
Lineups
| SYRIA |
PAKISTAN |
| 2 |
DF |
HAJ HASHIM |
|
| 6 |
DF |
JENIAT |
|
| 7 |
MF |
ALKADDOUR |
 53 |
| 8 |
FW |
YOSEF |
78 |
| 9 |
FW |
SALEM |
 90+4 |
| 15 |
DF |
AL MIDANI |
|
| 16 |
DF |
ALEISSA |
|
| 17 |
DF |
MUAYAD ALKHOULI |
|
| 18 |
MF |
ALMBAYED |
|
| 20 |
FW |
MARDEK MARDKIAN (C) |
44 56 |
| 22 |
GK |
ALSHAKIR |
|
|
| 1 |
GK |
SAQIB HANIF |
 15 |
| 2 |
MF |
FAISAL IQBAL (C) |
45+2 |
| 6 |
MF |
JUNAID QADIR |
|
| 7 |
MF |
BILAWAL-UR-REHMAN |
|
| 14 |
FW |
ZAKIR LASHARI |
46 |
| 15 |
DF |
NAVEED |
|
| 17 |
DF |
SADDAM HUSSAIN |
|
| 18 |
MF |
MOHSIN ALI |
|
| 21 |
MF |
ADIL |
27 |
| 27 |
FW |
MUHAMMAD |
58 |
| 31 |
MF |
DAHAR ABDUL UR REHMAN BAIG |
86 |
|
| Substitutes |
| 1 |
GK |
IBRAHIM ALMA |
|
| 3 |
DF |
MOUAIAD ALAJAAN |
|
| 14 |
DF |
ALJWAYED |
|
| 19 |
MF |
MAHMOUD ALMAWAS |
65  53 |
| 23 |
FW |
SABAKJI |
78 |
| 25 |
GK |
ALHAMWI |
|
| 34 |
FW |
MAHMOOD ALBAHER |
|
| 38 |
DF |
ALKADI |
|
| 50 |
MF |
HAMID MIDO |
57 56 |
|
| 3 |
DF |
MANZOOR AHMAD |
|
| 8 |
MF |
MAHMOOD KHAN |
86 |
| 9 |
MF |
SHER |
|
| 10 |
MF |
KALEEMULLAH |
58 |
| 13 |
DF |
AHSANULLAH |
|
| 16 |
FW |
RASHID ALI |
|
| 20 |
DF |
NOOR MUHAMMAD |
|
| 22 |
GK |
MUZAMMIL HUSSAIN |
|
| 23 |
MF |
IMRAN ALI KHAN |
46 |
| 26 |
DF |
AMIR SIDDIQUI |
|
| 33 |
GK |
TANVEER |
|
| 44 |
FW |
RIAZ AHMED |
|
|
| Not Eligible |
|
|
|
| Not Playing |
| 12 |
MF |
IBRAHIM |
| 35 |
MF |
ABD AL ELAH HFEAN |
|
|
| Team Officials |
|
HUSSAM ALDIN AL SAED (Head Coach) |
|
|
ZAVISA MILOSAVLJEVIC (Head Coach) |
|
| Referee |
|
CHAIYA MAHAPAB (THAILAND) |
|
| Assistant Referees |
|
PREECHA KANGRAM (THAILAND) |
|
ALINEZHADIAN SAEID (I.R. IRAN) |
|
| Fourth Official |
|
ALI SABAH ADDAY AL-QAYSI (IRAQ) |
|
| Fifth Official |
|
| Match Commissioner |
|
|
| Legend: |
| Goals |
 Own goal |
 Penalties |
 Missed Penalties |
 Red Cards |
YellowCards |
 2nd Yellow (Red card) |
 Substitution |
|
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Kyrgyzstan
Palestine
Sri Lanka
Pakistan
I refuse to blame coach for this when this is essentially a team of average players that were just fortunate enough to get noticed in a mediocre domestic system that makes the likes of Kaleem Ullah into supermen, when in international football their true colours and abilities (if any) show.
I totally agree. You can’t blame the coach. Those of you who are blaming the coach sound so out of touch. What do you guys think a coach is??? A coach works with what he is given, and in this case what he got was below average players with very little to no football knowledge. Hope fully we can recruit a lot of foreign born players that and teaching young kids proper know how is the only hope
Let’s be optimistic. What I understand from the first match is that Pakistan played very well against Mighty Saudi Arabia ( 1 – 0) that defeated Sri Linka by 7 – 0. Similarly, Pakistan equalized the second match against Sri Linka by 0 – 0. Prior to the third match, why did the coach realize to change the captain of the Pakistan team to produce results? Wasn’t that a good performance from Pakistan team as a whole and captain in particular? In addition, what do you think such decisions are helpful for a young team? Don’t you think that such decisions do not have any psychological impact on the overall performance of a team? Nevertheless, we need to reflect over here! We always shy to highlight the good play of a player but we always try to down grade so that we achieve our personal objectives. This is what an idealistic person thinks. After changing the captain of the team, what happened Pakistan lost against a weaker team by 2- 0. What conclusions one can draw from this result. In this regard, I may say that Kaleem Ullah has been performing very well for several years in Pakistan and outside Pakistan. Unfortunately, we don’t encourage this young and energetic and above all a nature player to play his game and each time there are some people who regularly criticize him to defame him. I hope his critics could start positive thinking and start appreciating his game as well as provide moral support to him so that he could be able to show his natural game.
and the average players were mostly from lutfis team
bravo zavisa..i saw it on ur face that how badly you wanted pakistan to win thru all these games but it was just our players…believe it or not our offense didnt even look at the ball when it was long thruz.. i demand over seas striker or else we will see the same result over and over…i my self is a coach here in philadelphia and i can understand the chemistery where a coach struggles and ask his players to follow the path and instructions..our players are good but only in pakistan..not outside the country..if we mix them with some overseas players( pakistan origin) and let them play a few friendlies… we will see the result..we have likes of zeesh..adnan..ahmad..atif..and so on and on..it itself a 11 players team but alas..we are stuck with lohdy and faisal…
Terrible team really terrible…I think Zavisa needs to get sacked.
and what next? another round of Akhtar Mohiuddin and Tariq Lutfi coming in??!
Hey footballpakistan , don’t worry about these kinds of comments , we all know that these type of comments come from the relatives of Tariq Lutfi or Akhtar Mohiudding, Zavisa is doing more than decent job and he should be kept for another couple of years.
Pakistan Under-22 suffer another defeat
The News
Monday, July 02, 2012
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-10-118028-Pakistan-Under-22-suffer-another-defeat
KARACHI: The demoralised Pakistan Under-22 football team suffered another defeat when they were crushed by Syria 4-0 in their fourth Group B match of the 2013 Asian Cup Qualifiers at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on Saturday night.
The win put Syria in the next year’s finals along with Saudi Arabia who whipped Sri Lanka 7-0 on Saturday.
Pakistan, who were playing without their skipper Kaleemullah and injured left-back Ahsanullah, failed to show any significant resistance against the strong Syrian side who have won all their four matches they have played so far in the six-team group.
Following a handful of fine rallies, Syria were able to take the initiative through their skipper Mardek Mardkian just a minute before interval.
Midfielder Hamid Mido picked up the pace by sending in one in the 57th minute before Mahmoud Almawas added to the misery of Pakistan in the 65th minute.
Syria added another to their tally when striker S Salem scored one in the injury time.
The loss left Pakistan trailing at the rock bottom with just a single point from four games. After going 0-1 down against Saudi Arabia, Pakistan held Sri Lanka to a goalless draw before losing 0-2 against Kyrgyzstan.
They will face Palestine in their last outing on Tuesday (tomorrow).
Former Pakistan coach Tariq Lutfi termed Zavisa’s boys performance in the qualifiers disappointing. “I don’t think that the team has shown any improvement in the qualifiers,” Tariq told ‘The News’ here on Sunday.
“The result must have made the PFF upset because it has spent a lot of money on the team and the foreign coach,” added Tariq, who was replaced by Zavisa Milosavljevic last November.
“The PFF provided Zavisa and his team all opportunities of training which normally are not given to a local coach but in spite of this the team failed to click,” he said.
“I have felt that the foreign coach is too much defensive. He needs a big heart as without taking a risk it is always difficult to progress,” he pointed out.
“If Pakistan fail to beat Palestine in their last match they will finish at the rock bottom. We could have produced such a performance even under an ordinary local coach,” Tariq said.
He said that it was very difficult to raise the standard of football in the country unless the graph of the domestic competitions was raised to the international standard.
In the other Group B match, hosts Saudi Arabia, who also emerged as the group leaders, inflicted a humiliating 7-0 defeat on Sri Lanka.
Saudi striker Mohammed Yahya Majrashi opened the scoring in the eighth minute before completing his treble with two more goals on penalties in the 56th and 70th minute.
He was also joined on the scoresheet by Saleh Khalid Alsehri with a double in the 36th and 74th minutes, while midfielder Salem Mohammed Aldawsari struck in the 25th minute. Defender Abdullah Ibrahim Otayf slotted one home just before full time.
In the third match, Palestine held Kyrgyzstan to a goalless draw. Kyrgyzstan are trailing third with four points, while Palestinians are at the fourth place with two points.
Lutfi sb yeh kya baat hui?
I dont want to blame the coach for seeing what is essentially a bunch of average players barring 1 or 2 exceptions realise that they simply are not good enough.
What is use of attacking when you cannot even CONVERT chances and become open to other side’s counter-attacks?
Poor conversion from the players is an issues which should be solved at clubs, not in national teams. Lutfi’s team produced 5 to 7 chances in return leg against Malaysia so i respect him a lot. However we need an foriegner to coach the team, and the best person can be an asian coach
We can’t blame coach. I think that there is a lot of stuff more to improve, but for now Serbian is doing very great with players that he has. Let’s give a little time to this young boys, and also if it’s possible get a few players who play abroad. Best of luck Pakistan !!!
No need to pay huge amount to the foreign coach, see result. I think Pakistan Football Federation waste money. If PFF promote from grass root level and polish the players and put in Pakistan team. I suggest pakistani senior/junior coaches are best to understand the game plan to our team. Mohammad Siddique Sheikh, Tariq Lutfi, Akhtar Mohiudding, Sajjad Mehmood, Nasir Ismail, Asghar Ali Anjum, Gohar Zaman, and other junior coaches are available, but PFF not utilize their talent because their skin is black………………
We’ve been following Pak football long enough to realise that these coaches are only good at domestic level, but in international football they are simply not good enough. Senior guys like Lutfi and Akhtar have been given the charge of national team many many times and have FAILED each time with worse results than ever before.