Kuwait whip Pakistan in AFC U19 qualifiers

Football team goes down 3-1 in opening match in Iraq.

KARACHI: Pakistan lost to Kuwait 3-1 in their opening match of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U19 Championship qualifiers yesterday in Arbil City, Iraq.

Pakistan conceded their first goal in the seventh minute of the match as Hussein Al -Harbi ensured Kuwait went into the interval leading 1-0.

Kuwait kept up the pace in the second-half, as they doubled the lead in the 58th minute with Al-Harbi netting his second goal.

Pakistan scored a consolation goal through captain Mansoor Khan in the 88th minute, while Kuwait sealed the victory with Mubarak Mubarak’s effort in the injury time of the one-sided encounter.



“It should’ve been a draw against Kuwait,” the Pakistan Football Federation (PPF) Secretary Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi told The Express Tribune. “I spoke to the manager of the team after the match and he told me that the team missed a lot of chances.

"Mansoor only scored after squandering five open chances, but this doesn’t mean that the team’s performance was satisfactory. We need to improve on our finishing and score without missing too many opportunities.”

Pakistan must win against Iraq tomorrow and Bangladesh on October 12 in order to stay in the running to qualify for the next round of the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2013.

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