Pakistan flop under pouring rain

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Alam Zeb Safi
KARACHI: Pakistan flopped miserably on Wednesday when they went 0-3 down against Bangladesh in their first leg of the opening round of the FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifiers held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday.

The defeat has minimised the chances of the Greenshirts to make it to the second round as they will have to pull off a big win (by at least a four-goal margin) in their second leg slated to be held at the Punjab Stadium in Lahore on July 3 if they want to move ahead. If Pakistan win the second leg 3-0 then penalties will be given to decide the winners.

The game was held under heavy downpour and the players of either side had to fight against heavy and slippery conditions. Pakistan had won the South Asian Games title in Colombo by playing under similar conditions in August 2006.

Pakistan received first blow in the opening minute of the game when 23-year old Bangladesh striker, Mohamed Hasan Ameli, beat the visitors’ goalie Jaffar Khan with a gentle low push.

Pakistan, who opted to field with their three key foreign-based players Atif Bashir, Zeeshan Rehman and Adnan Farooq, failed to keep possession of the ball.

At this stage, Bangladesh kept up the pressure and doubled their lead with a fine short-range drive from midfielder Mohamed Zahid Hossain in the 22nd minute. At half-time, Bangladesh were leading 2-0.

Pakistan made a change at the start of second half, replacing midfielder Kaleemullah with Mohammad Ikram. But the move did not prove productive as Bangladesh stretched their lead with a goal from Mohamed Razaul Karim, whose’ powerful shot went past the diving Pakistani goalkeeper in the 56th minute.

After placing themselves in comfortable position, the hosts opted for defensive display and were able to maintain the lead till full-time.

Pakistan’s coach Tariq Lutfi termed the playing conditions as unplayable.

“The rain was too much. I have never seen such conditions before. The water was lying under the long grass and our players were not even able to run,” Lutfi told ‘The News’ from Dhaka after the match.

“I must say that our players were not able to cope with the conditions. On the other hand Bangladeshi players got advantage of their experience of playing in such rainy conditions as they used to lift the ball which gave them chance to create goal-scoring opportunities,” the disappointed coach said.

“Before the start of the match I told the referee that the conditions are not good to play in. But he said that the match will go on as scheduled. Then after the match I also submitted a written complaint with the match-commissioner but I think it will not help us as we lost the game and an early advantage,” Lutfi lamented.

“We had come here with a desire to win but we were extremely unlucky to achieve our target because of unfavourable conditions,” Lutfi said.

“Now the target has become very difficult for us as we will have to beat Bangladesh 4-0 in the next leg in Lahore,” Lutfi concluded.

Pakistani team will return home on Thursday night (today) and will then fly out for Lahore on Friday (tomorrow).