What Pakistan need to do to qualify for the U-22 Asian Cup

The Green-Shirts start their qualifying campaign in June, with Newspakistan analyzing what problems need to be addressed in order to secure a berth in the U-22 Asian Cup.

Foreign Training camp

Facilities in Pakistan have never been conducive to the game in its history. Nearly every coach whether be it Tariq Lutfi, George Kottan or even Zavisa Milosavljevic has criticized the state of the football fields, which are full of bumps and are mostly
without grass, let alone be of International caliber.

In order to fully train the team, the PFF needs to organize a training camp abroad for a sufficient period of time, so that Zavisa can implement his strategies on proper grounds. The added presence of top facilities will help the squad prepare more intensively
for the qualifiers and it will surely boost our chances of playing in the Asian Cup next year.

Get International friendlies

The Federation failed miserably to obtain International games for the FIFA Match Day and it means that they won’t be any exposure for the lads until the next dates come around. It is imperative that the PFF get at least 4-5 official games with foreign sides,
so that the National team has enough match experience and fitness to kick-off their qualification campaign with confidence.

There have been rumours of a potential tournament being arranged prior to the qualifiers, while certain PFF officials have also revealed that a number of sides could visit Pakistan in May and the team could also go on a tour abroad to Palestine. This will
allow Zavisa to judge the players appropriately and make the necessary changes to his team in order to make a competitive unit.

Utilize foreign resources

A debatable and controversial topic to say the least, many in Pakistan believe that players plying their trade abroad should not be a part of the team, as they disharmonize the squad and often arrive at the 12^th hour just before matches.

While there is some truth to the statement above, there is no doubt that players such as Adnan Ahmed, Atif Bashir and Zeeshan Rehman are supremely talented and give their best when they don the National team jersey.

For the U-22 team, there is prospect of calling Bilal Butt and Luke Dean, both of whom play in England and can be great additions to the side. Dean, in particular could be pivotal, as he is currently signed with Bradford City on professional terms.

The local lads are simply not as good enough, but with the foreign players in the team alongside them, the overall quality should improve quite a bit.

If the PFF adheres to the above mentioned points, there is a great chance that we could see the Pakistan anthem playing at next year’s Asian Cup.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=14035

Posted by Shahrukh Sohail on Feb 28 2012. Filed under Pakistan, South Asia, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry