2009 SAFF Cup Special: Know Your Opponents - Team Pakistan

Continuing with our SAFF Cup special series, in which we profile each of the other seven teams in the competition, Goal.com's Amoy Ghoshal looks at under-achievers Pakistan...

01-Dec-2009 2:44:14 AM

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Pakistani National Team in Nepal

Teams

Pakistan

FIFA Ranking: 161

Best Result In SAFF Cup: Third Place In 1997

Result In Last SAFF Cup: Group Stages

History:

Football in Pakistan has never been the number one sport in the country as the national team has had no success at world or continental level However compared to other teams in the sub-continent, Pakistan do have a lot more history and have done reasonably well at South Asian level. They played their first international way back in 1950 and were a decent team even at Asian level till the 1960’s as they once finished runner-up in the prestigious Merdeka Cup in that period. The ‘Greenshirts’ also did well in the 1960 Asia Cup qualifying campaign in which they recorded their first victory over arch-rivals India and also defeated Iran and drew against Israel. But that was to be their best period at Asian level as the national team never even came close to qualify for the Asia Cup since then. Lack of infrastructure and investment pushed Pakistan further down over the years and reduced them to a minnow in Asian football. However they remain a force to reckon with in the subcontinent having won the gold in football at the South Asian games four times. Surprisingly though, they have never won the SAFF Cup but have been in the top four on four occasions. Pakistan are miles away from the world stage but over the last decade the PFF (Pakistan Football Federation) has been spending a lot of money with more and more foreigners of Pakistani origin who play abroad, being allowed to represent the national team. It remains to be seen how successful that policy is in the long run.

Current Team:

The current Pakistan team is being coached by Austrian Gyorgy Kottan, who was in charge of Bangladesh when they lifted the SAFF Cup in 2003. He took over in February but it hasn’t been a successful stint so far as Pakistan failed to qualify for the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup earlier this year, after finishing second in the qualifying group behind Sri Lanka. They have also suffered heavy defeats against Thailand in friendly matches and the preparation leading up to the SAFF Cup hasn’t been the best. However in terms of personnel, Pakistan does consist of players that can be a handful for any team in the subcontinent. They have a relatively young squad which consist of very few players who are on the wrong side of thirty. Goalkeeper Jaffar Khan is one of the most senior players and is very reliable. However the defence is inexperienced and is unlikely to have former Fulham defender Zesh Rehman. There is a lot of talent in midfield with players like Abdul Aziz and Adnan Ahmed, who plays for Hungarian club Ferencvarosi and has also had a stint for the Manchester United academy. Muhammed Essa, who is considered to be one of the best players of the region, will once again have the responsibility of scoring the goals while joint top scorer in the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers, Saifullah Khan will also have to deliver upfront. There is no dearth of talent in this Pakistan side so they do have a good chance in the tournament.

Key Player:

Muhammad Essa – The skipper is considered to be Pakistan’s talisman so a lot will be expected from him in this tournament also. He has the ability to both score and create goals therefore his whole country will be hoping to see his best form from the very first game.

The Group:

Pakistan were not seeded during the draw but still managed to avoid record champions India and holders Maldives. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be their main rivals for qualification but after finishing bottom of their group in the last edition, they won’t even take Bhutan lightly.

Verdict:

Pakistan have the ability to go past the group stages but beating either Maldives or arch rivals India could be a very difficult task.

Amoy Ghoshal

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