‘Development of youth football is the way forward’

Pakistan look to draw series today, coach Lutfi seemingly satisfied with young team’s performance in Lahore.

KARACHI:

Progress takes time and consistent effort on the part of Pakistan under-21 football team, which will be featuring in the Olympic Qualifiers, will eventually have a positive impact on its performance in the international arena, feels Pakistan football coach Tariq Lutfi.

Pakistan take on Palestine in the second and final match of the series in Karachi today, having lost 2-1 to the tourists in the series-opener in Lahore. Lutfi, however, said that the defeat was not a setback for him and in fact he saw it as a good performance from Pakistani colts.

“Pakistan has never worked well on football in the country before 2004,” said the coach on the eve of the second match. “And only after 2004 that we saw some efforts made to lift the game.

“It takes a lot of time to progress technically and I feel we’re moving in the right direction.

“However, consistency in the efforts should also be there in order to form a formidable side.”

Lutfi added that the U-21 team comprised of Pakistan’s future and their performance also makes the federation and the team management hopeful of having a strong side in the coming years.

“Palestine has brought their national team whereas we have featured our Olympic team. And I saw that our young players competed well against Palestine. In the past, we used to lose by big margins but now our players are more competitive compared to teams like Thailand.

“If we continue to make efforts in the right direction, we would soon start to win matches against top teams in the region.”

Tauseef’s strike hailed

Faisalabad-born Muhammad Tauseef not only became Pakistan’s first-ever goal-scorer against Palestine but on Tuesday night he halted the agony of missed penalties that put Pakistan out of three events.

The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) praised him for a lovely, brilliant right-footed strike that sent the goal-keeper the wrong way. Down by two goals, Tauseef stepped up and found the top right corner to convert his effort.

Tauseef’s goal was the first for Pakistan in international arena since December 2009 when Arif Mehmood struck a hat-trick against Bhutan.

‘Pakistan need an overall improvement’

He has expressed the need for an overall improvement in key areas of the Pakistan team.

“There are a lot of things we should improve in time for the second match against Palestine, the second leg against Malaysia in the Olympics qualifier and the 4th AFC Challenge Cup, especially the penalty-kick area,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2011.