Pakistan faces India in highly anticipated football match
Sharing a cyclone is easier than sharing a football field for Pakistan and India. Biporjoy united Pakistanis and Indians in prayers and tracking the movement of the extreme cyclone. Hands were raised in prayer, hoping for no casualties on either the Gujarat or Sindh side of the Arabian Sea.
The people of the two countries have more in common, but political and diplomatic reasons make traveling and playing sports together a challenging and dramatic task.
"We are still in trouble," Pakistan's head coach, Shahzad Anwar, told The Express Tribune while on the plane at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in Mauritius. "This ordeal is not over."
By the time you read this, Pakistani team would have landed in Mumbai. They arrived in India at 1am IST, marking the beginning of another challenging journey. The team received their Indian visas on Monday, after a lengthy process reminiscent of a soap opera.
On June 21, the day of the match, the team was supposed to reach their hotel in Bangalore, the venue for the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, by 10 am. "We'll reach our destination at 10 am on the day of the match. We have to fly to Goa before flying to Bengaluru, but we have been enduring this agony for several days now," continued Shahzad, as he tried to keep the players motivated.
"The wait hindered us from giving our best against Djibouti in our last match at the Four Nation Cup friendly tournament. If I had known our visas were already issued, I would have chosen a different team and strategised differently. This friendly tournament was our opportunity to test and prepare the team for the SAFF Championship, which is our biggest regional event, and one that we have yet to win."
Pakistan played three matches in Mauritius, losing 3-0 to the hosts on June 11, improving with a 1-0 win against Kenya on June 14, and being outplayed by Djibouti 3-1 on June 17.
The team was meant to receive their Indian visas last week, but since that did not happen, they had to extend their stay in Mauritius, resulting in significant costs for Pakistan and mental strain for the team. "We were uncertain about how this would end. Were we supposed to go back from Mauritius? Despite training, we needed a lot of mental work to stay optimistic and keep the players' spirits up. We all want to play India, participate in the SAFF Championship, and seize every opportunity to play because we are in the phase of rebuilding this team," said Shahzad.
This will be Pakistan's first encounter with India since 2018 when they lost to India's U23 team in the semifinals. It is also the first time Pakistan will be playing on Indian soil since 2014 when they had a bilateral series consisting of two matches, which ended in a draw with each country winning one match.
India's recent victory in the Intercontinental Cup final against Lebanon on Sunday has boosted their confidence and experience, setting them up as strong contenders compared to Pakistan.
"Pakistan appealed for the rescheduling of the fixture," Shahzad stated, but the SAFF did not accommodate their request. "We are all up for playing India because it is a traditional rivalry. All the players are pumped, even though we will be exhausted after this long journey and landing just hours before the match."
At the end of the day, we were relieved to get the visas because politics should not stop sports. Sports should be independent of this. And now, even though it is unfair that we must play right away, it feels like a big task to be on the field after so much strain and stress and hardly any time to recuperate, but we are here.
"The sportsman spirit would have been that they issued us visas before or Saff should have moved the fixture to another date," said Shahzad. He added that his goal is to try and reach beyond the group stage at Saff Championship. Pakistan is placed in Group A with India, Nepal, and Kuwait. Group B at the event has Lebanon, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Maldives. Kuwait and Lebanon are invited to this edition to improve the level of competition.
"India is the strongest side in the region, so there is that, but mostly my strategy would be different for this tournament. Earlier in Mauritius, we were just watching the players come together and see them gel together. Now we have this event, but even this event is preparation for the World Cup qualifiers that we will play later this year," said Shahzad. He said that Pakistanis are still a developing side and far from the ideal team due to limited resources and a brief time to prepare a side that can play.
The team also has nine diaspora players. There have been no names from the previous set of players whose talents and time have gone to waste because of the institutional crisis at the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), which is being run by a FIFA-appointed Normalization Committee (NC) and has faced two bans since 2017. Shahzad said that suffering has been massive, but he needs to seek the best talent.
"We have so much development work to do in football. We have diaspora players, but this is a short-term solution because the best player in the position gets to be on the team. The other players have suffered, but we can't let that affect how we field the team right now. But in the long term, we must develop our sport," explained Shahzad. He has worked extensively with youth players over the years as the only Asian Football Confederation-certified professional coach. He also helped many youth players go to Brazil, where he was working at the league clubs.
"We have talented players like Umar Hayat in the team. Waleed was also playing in Brazil, so we have new players to watch out for from the country," said Shahzad.
The Pakistan coach believes that culturally and for peace in the region, it is necessary that sports carry on. Earlier this year, Pakistan hosted India's Bridge team in Lahore at the BFAME Championships. Meanwhile, now there is also hope that the Pakistan cricket team will be able to play at the ICC World Cup that will be hosted by India later this year too. However, cricket bodies work in a vastly unusual way compared to those of other sports.
Shahzad has a message for Pakistani fans. "I just want them to back us and cheer for us but also have realistic expectations from us. We are still developing the team; we are in rebuilding mode. We had a mini rebuilding session in Mauritius too after we found out that visas are issued and got our spirits up again," said Shahzad.
To the Indian fans, Shahzad has one message: "I hope you like our game and support football. I hope you enjoy the way our team plays because we have worked hard, and we have good diaspora players as well. I want you to have an enjoyable time with us."
Indians are excited to watch Pakistan play
Meanwhile, India's leading sports website, The Bridge, founded by Shuvro Ghoshal, believes that it is unfair for Pakistan to be playing right after a tiring journey. "It is somewhat unfair to expect Pakistan to recover physically and mentally from their long trip from Mauritius, arrive in Bengaluru in the morning, and play on the same day. Although their journey has been far from smooth and perfect, sports fans are relieved that the visa has been granted," said Ghoshal.
"According to widespread reports, the Pakistan Football Federation received the necessary clearance from the Ministry quite late. Once they obtained the approval, they promptly applied for the visa on Thursday, and the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) cooperated to expedite the process.
"The Indian football team is in high spirits after their recent success in the Intercontinental Cup. They will approach the SAFF Championship with confidence, aiming to maintain their dominance in the tournament. Fans in Bengaluru and throughout India are eagerly anticipating this highly significant match, which is expected to be fiercely competitive. Regardless of the sport, an India-Pakistan encounter always carries immense emotional intensity and resonates with millions of people."
Similarly, sports enthusiast Rahul Mukherji said that sports will promote peace and reconciliation in the region. "Due to the political situation, obtaining a visa for the Pakistani team's visit to India requires a prior application and cannot be done last minute. However, it is fortunate that the team is participating in a match upon their arrival, bringing joy to the fans, just looking at it positively," said Mukherji, who has been a part of the Southasia Peace Action Network (SAPAN) events in the past.
SAPAN is a network of activists, intellectuals, experts, authors, academics, and journalists from different fields who want to see a visa-free South Asia too, as people of the region can benefit more through peace.
"While keeping politics separate from international sport is challenging, it is encouraged for both countries to increase their participation in multi-country sporting events. The sport encompasses far beyond mere entertainment; it possesses the remarkable power to catalyze peace and reconciliation even between nations with strained relationships."