Pakistan lost their first match of the AFC U16 Championship qualifiers against the UAE yesterday. PHOTO: SHAFIQ MALIK/ EXPRESSS
LAHORE: Pakistan lost their opening match to the UAE 2-0 in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U16 Championship qualifiers while Iran thrashed Sri Lanka 8-0 at the Punjab Stadium yesterday.
Playing the second match of the day, Pakistan and the UAE went into the half-time interval locked at 0-0 in the midst of cheers from the fans.
UAE came out the stronger team in the second-half as they applied pressure on Pakistan’s defence. Their offensive tactics paid dividends when midfielder Faisal Ahmed scored the opening goal in the 69th minute.
The away side kept applying pressure and doubled their lead as a result of a penalty-kick in the 82nd minute by Essa Muhammad to seal the points.
Pakistan coach Sajjad Mehmood was disappointed as he expected his side to start on a winning note against the UAE. “The outcome was not what we expected, but at least we tried and the UAE played well,” said Mehmood. “We still have two more matches to play. Iran is going to be tough side to beat but we will try and put up a good fight against them.”
National U19 coach Nasir Ismail was also present and believed Pakistan lost because they failed to utilise their home advantage.
“They had the home advantage in the match and they should’ve utilised it,” said Ismail. “I think the coaches are somewhat answerable to why the team is not improving any further. The reason why Iran have a better team is because their junior players start playing the sport at the age of six, while we begin our coaching for players at age 13 and onwards. So that makes a huge difference. Their players are more mature than ours.”
Iran destroy Sri Lanka 8-0
In the first match of the day, tournament favourites Iran demolished Sri Lanka 8-0.
Coach Mostafa Ghanbar Pour was satisfied with the way his troops started their campaign.
“We had a good opening win, but that doesn’t mean we will become complacent,” he said in the post-match press conference. “The win has set the tone for us. We will still put our best in every match.”
Iran currently sit in top position with three points, thanks to a higher goal difference than the UAE, who are placed in second spot. The top team from the group of four will continue their campaign in the championship.
Earlier, the opening ceremony saw Pakistan cricket legend Javed Miandad grace the event as the chief guest along with top AFC officials from the Middle East.
The teams will play their next round of matches tomorrow.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2013.
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