Kuwait, which used to beat Pakistan heavily in 80s and 90s, failed to repeat their free-scoring method, as Pakistan fended off a Kuwait onslaught on Friday, who managed only hard-earned 1-0 win over Pakistan at Malaysia's Shah Alam Stadium. Midfielder Soud Alenezi struck the lone goal of the match in the 76th minute. It was fifth of the 10 encounters to be played in the 14th Asian Under-16 Football Championship (Group-A), says a message received here.
Pakistani coach Muhammad Habib was satisfied with his side's attempt and was impressed with his team, playing the formidable Kuwait who appeared in 1982 World Cup. "We landed at KL knowing that Group-A is tougher one having Asian powerhouses Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait whose national teams stayed at 64, 80 and 109 respectively as compared to Pakistan's 167 as per the FIFA world ranking issued on October 16.
"But still my boys played with dedication and commitment to hold Kuwait with hard fought wins," said Habib, who is among most successful coaches, who are working under Asian Football Confederation (AFC)'s AID-27 Financial Assistance Scheme.
Habib, coach of PMC Athletico Club in PPFL since 2008, said: "We have to use that as a confidence booster. We can go into the Sunday game against Afghanistan with the evidence of a great performance. I was very encouraged by it. "The players should take enormous credit from that because they have to play in that cauldron without being intimidated," he added. The top two teams and best third-placed side from groups B-G qualify for the finals along with the Group H winner. Group A is the sole one to be decided with the top two teams going through to the next year's 16-team finals.
The teams, which have already qualified, are: Iran and Tajikistan (Group B), Syria and Iraq (Group C), UAE and Jordan (Group D), Japan and Indonesia (Group E), China and Timor Leste (Group F), DPR Korea and Vietnam (Group G), and Australia (Group H). Pakistan team for the match comprised Ahsanullah, Muhammad Sajid, Hasnain Arshed Butt, Shahram Babar, Mohsin Ali, Hassan Saleem Khan, Sher Muhammad, Irfan Younus, Basit Hassan, Danyal Naeem, Asad Irfan, Muhammad Fazal and Faheem Ahmed.
Comments
Comments are closed.