Football: Pakistan play out goal-less draw against Maldives
The match witnessed Pakistan missing out on several goal-scoring opportunities, with Adnan Ahmed’s 40th-minute strike being disallowed by the referee.
Pakistan coach Zavisa Milosavljevic made two substitutions in a bid to find an elusive goal, but his moves proved fruitless. He replaced Jadeed Khan Pathan with Shakir Lashari and Ansar Abbad with Atif Bashir, but to no avail.
Pakistan had earlier drawn against Bangladesh in their opening match of the tournament and with their second successive draw, the team are now placed third in Group B. Maldives are in second position, while Nepal top the group with four points. Bangladesh are bottom of the table.
Sri Lanka occupy top spot in Group A with three points, while Afghanistan and India have a point each. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the second round.
‘Team’s show encouraging’
Former Pakistan captain Arif Mehmood felt that the team’s performance was an encouraging one after going through a poor run earlier in the year.
“It was a good show,” Mehmood told The Express Tribune. “At least they’re not losing, which is something new for Pakistan. Bangladesh had ripped us apart in June in the World Cup qualifiers and Maldives are always a tricky side to play against. I believe that the new coach is certainly making the correct decisions.”
Pakistan will play their last group match against Nepal
on Wednesday.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2011.
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They are missing 9
Coming into SAFF Championship 2011 with new coach Zavisa Milosavljevic taking charge of the team only a few weeks back meant that the team was under-prepared for the competition.
The Serbian rightly pointed out that they do not have a number nine in their team earlier and it was evident in both games against Bangladesh and Maldives. They put up a decent display but the Green Shirts were wasteful with their chances and their often-threatening tactics on the field were not converted into goals.
Spirit to win the match was present but player shows sign of fatigue in second half. Long passes unnecessary shot on targets were more than creating a chance.
Pakistani Football have shown signs of improvement but the Serbian has to do a lot of work.
I am looking forward for an upset in from this site in this tournament .