Lutfi confident as pakistan go in search of 4-0 win

Pakistan lost the first qualifier 3-0 in Bangladesh on June 29 and now it has to register a win with a margin of four goals to qualify for the next round against Lebanon.

“Yes, the playing conditions in Bangladesh were not suitable for Pakistan, but we will not be playing the next match with the memories of 3-0 win and take on the hosts with a new strategy and game plan,” Nicola said, while addressing a pre-match press conference here on Saturday.

He said his team was in better frame of mind and it would give its best to beat Pakistan to qualify for the second round. However, he said he was expecting a good fight from Pakistan as they would be playing under their home conditions.

Lutfi said his first target was to qualify for the next round and for that he wanted to win with 4-0 margin.

“To earn the target we will have to get an early lead and my players are eager to give their best as they will be playing to take revenge for the earlier defeat and I am hopeful we will get a better start tomorrow,” Lutfi said.

He said Pakistan had defeated Bangladesh twice under his coaching and he would earn his third victory against them on Sunday.

He said the playing conditions in Bangladesh were not conducive and he had lodged a complaint with the match commissioner after the match.

“It was not easy for us to kick the ball on wet surface because of rain. As the Bangladeshis are used to play under those conditions, they got the advantage but now we have better chances to earn victory,” he said.

Lutfi admitted that as rain was expected in Lahore on Sunday, the heavy ground conditions could help the visitors create problems for the home side.

However, he said earning 4-0 victory was a big challenge for Pakistan and for that his men would go all out. Visiting team captain Biplob Bhattacharjee said Pakistan was a strong team and they had the talent to bounce back.

To a question, he said the visitors would not try to go for a draw and play aggressive game. Pakistan captain, goalkeeper Jaffar Khan said Pakistan would also play attacking game, but with a packed defence.

He admitted his players would have to work really hard to claim 4-0 victory.

“Our boys are mentally prepared for this match, ignoring the bad memories of the past game and our first target is to earn 4-0 win,” Jaffar said.

He said the home conditions would help Pakistan.

Squads:
PAKISTAN:
Goalkeepers: Jaffer Khan (captain), Jehangir Khan.
Defenders: Sameer Ishaq, Alamgir Khan, Kamran Khan, Mohammad Ahmad, Atif Bashir, Zeeshan Rehman.

Midfielders: Faisal Iqbal (vice-captain), Manzoor Ahmad, Arif Hussain, Kaleemullah, Mehmood Khan, Hasnnain Abbas, Ahmad Akbar Khan.

Forwards: Arif Mehmood, Mohammad Qasim, Mohammad Ikram, Mohammad Rasool, Adnan Farooq.

Officials: Tariq Lutfi (coach), Nasir Ismail (assistant coach), Gohar Zaman (manager), Aslam Khan (goalkeeper coach), Dr Kamran Mehdi (physio), Irfan Khan Niazi (media manager).

BANGLADESH:
Goalkeepers: Biplob Bhattacharajee (captain), ND Nehal.
Defenders: Ariful Islam, Yousuf Ali Khan, Yameen Ahmed Chaudhry Munna, Mamun Khan, Razul Karim, Linkon.

Midfielders: Nasirul Islam Nasir, Attiqur Rehman Meshu, Zahid Hossain, Manunul Islam, Mithun Chowdhury, Shakil Ahmed, Abdul Baten Mojumder Komal, Noman Khan Raju.

Forwards: Jahid Hussain, Mohammad Shakawat Hossain Rony, Yousuf.

Officials: Coach: Nicola Alviscky (coach), Syed Hassan (manager), Fazal-ul-Rehman (chief de mission).

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Chances of Indo-pak cricket revival delight Shoaib Malik

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, dubbed India’s son-in-law since marrying tennis star Sania Mirza, said on Friday he was delighted the rivals might soon face each other on the cricket pitch again.

The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Future Tours Programme has pencilled in India as hosts of Pakistan for three Tests and five One-day Internationals in March-April next year.

The tour remains subject to clearance from both governments, but would mark a breakthrough for relations that went into free fall after terrorists killed 166 people in the November 2008 Mumbai incident that India blamed on Pakistan.

“The prospect of Pakistan touring India for a cricket series is delightful and I am hopeful it will happen,” Malik, who led Pakistan on their last tour to India in 2007, said.

“Cricket has astonishing power to bring people of both India and Pakistan closer. We saw that in 2004 when Indians were welcomed in our country and they returned with a different perception of Pakistan,” added the 29-year-old.

“It was the same when we toured India in 2005. People of both countries eat the same food, speak the same language and wear the same dress, and everyone wants to watch Pakistan play India.”

Malik said he gets enormous respect and love in India, all the more so since his high-profile marriage last year.

“Obviously, after my marriage to Sania I get more respect and love, and there are hundreds of such marriages in India and Pakistan.”

Malik reckoned India, which has a population of more than one billion, playing Pakistan, home to 167 million people, is bigger than the Ashes, played between Australia and England.

“It’s huge, bigger than the Ashes because if you count the number of people watching, it’s very, very big, so world cricket also needs India and Pakistan,” remarked Malik.

An India team was due to tour Pakistan in early 2009 but the visit was cancelled as peace talks stalled between the nuclear rivals after the Mumbai attack.

The teams last met in this year’s World Cup semi-final in India at a match watched in person by the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers, Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani.

“That spirit should be cashed in on,” Malik stated, noting that he also wanted to regain his place on the team, having not been selected since last
year’s tour of England.

Malik has so far played 32 Tests, 192 one-dayers and 32 Twenty20 matches.—

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Kaneria goes to court in bid to revive career

Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria on Saturday filed a court petition against Pakistan Cricket Board for not allowing him to resume his international career despite being cleared in a spot-fixing case.

The 30-year-old has not been allowed to play for his country because an integrity committee of the PCB is not satisfied by the clearance from Essex, his county team in England.

Kaneria and fellow Essex bowler Mervyn Westfield were arrested last year on charges of spot-fixing during a Pro40 match against Durham. Kaneria was later released without being charged but Westfield faces criminal proceedings.

Kaneria featured in Pakistan’s Test series against England last year but has not been selected since on the grounds of not being cleared by the PCB committee.

Kaneria said he filed the case as a last resort.

“I have given every document to the PCB but they are not clearing me. I have committed no crime and that’s why Essex police and my county have cleared me in that spot-fixing case,” Kaneria told AFP.

“My priority is to play for Pakistan but I don’t know for what crime I am being punished by the PCB. Every time they announce a squad and every time they give contracts to players they say Kaneria is not cleared,” he said.

The wily leg-spinner has taken 261 wickets in 61 Tests, besides taking 15 in 18 one-day internationals.

“Our point of view is that when the Essex police, Essex county and International Cricket Council have cleared Kaneria then why is PCB not clearing him, their demands have been unreasonable,” said Kaneria’s lawyer Farogh Naseem.

“It’s up to the PCB to select him or not as player, but when there is nothing against Kaneria in that spot-fixing case, why he is not being cleared?” Naseem told AFP.

The Sindh High court will hear the case on Monday.

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Nadal sets up Djokovic showdown

Defending champion Rafael Nadal will get the chance to avenge the imminent loss of his world number one ranking to Novak Djokovic after the two rivals set up a Wimbledon final showdown here Friday.

Djokovic ensured he will topple Nadal at the top of the ATP’s latest rankings earlier Friday after a stylish 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-7 (9/11), 6-3 semi-final win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Centre Court.

A few hours later, top seed Nadal joined Djokovic in Sunday’s final after shattering Andy Murray’s Wimbledon dream with a comprehensive 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 win over the British fourth seed.

Nadal’s victory means the Spaniard will be given an early opportunity to remind Djokovic that he may only have a temporary lease on the number one spot as he chases an 11th Grand Slam title.

Nadal leads 16-11 in matches against Djokovic, although the Serb has won all four of their encounters this year.

“For me it’s a dream to be back in the final,” said Nadal after his win over Murray. “I feel sad for Andy, he deserved to be in the final. It’s tough for him to lose this match today, but I wish him all the best for the rest of the year.

“I think I played very well. To win against Andy I had to play my best tennis and today I played my best tennis.”

“It will be really difficult for me but I will try my best as always.”Murray meanwhile was left bitterly disappointed after falling in the semi-finals for the third consecutive year, a defeat that ensures Britain’s 75-year wait for a men’s Wimbledon champion goes on.

Earlier, an ecstatic Djokovic said reaching the final and gaining the number one ranking represented the realisation of twin childhood dreams.

“It’s difficult to put into words,” said Djokovic. “This is one of the best feelings I’ve had on a tennis court. My dreams are coming true —into my first final at Wimbledon.

“I’ve been working all my life for this. I’ve been dreaming about playing the final in Wimbledon since I started playing tennis when I was four, so to be there in the final on Sunday will be fantastic.”

Tsonga meanwhile said Djokovic would be a worthy world number one after a season which has seen him reach the last four of all three Grand Slams, a run which included his second Australian Open crown.

“I think he’s the best player in the world for the moment. He won the Australian Open. He got to the semis at Roland Garros. And now he’s in final here,” Tsonga said. “So he’s maybe the best.”

“I can beat everybody today, but not Djokovic, because he just played unbelievable,” said Tsonga. “He was everywhere. He returns unbelievable —all the time on his baseline, so it’s tough.”

Djokovic had lost in five of his seven previous encounters against Tsonga, who had advanced to the last four with a stunning five-set quarter-final victory over six-time champion Roger Federer.

But despite a spirited third set fightback from Tsonga, Djokovic maintained his composure to close out a deserved victory in 3hr 7mins

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Germany outpace Pakistan

Germany defeated Pakistan 2-1 at the men’s 4-Nations tournament here Friday while the Netherlands drew 2-2 with England to move atop the table after two games.

Pakistan showed early speed in the first minute when the flowing locks of Shakeel Abbasi flew down the right and his pass found Muhammad Zubair to shoot into goal.

Germany gradually broke down Pakistan’s midfield zonal defence and earned its first penalty corner in the last seconds of the first half, Jan-Marco Montag converting to bring the scores equal.

Germany found their way through Pakistan’s defence more easily in the second half and held possession in Pakistan’s defensive quarter for long periods.

Moritz Furste scored the winning goal, neatly negotiating a packed circle of defenders to flick high into the net over defenders.

Germany coach Markus Weisse was not left a happy man, saying: “I can’t say I liked the game and no one deserved a prize for the performances out there.”Khawaja Junaid, the Pakistan manager, was left ruing his side’s inability to finish.

“We missed some sitters and we need to be stronger on the ball and we need to finish stronger but we have time to make the improvements we need before the Champions Trophy in New Delhi at the end of the year,” Junaid said.

The loss leaves Pakistan at the bottom of the pool table with one point from the draw against England.

The speed, skill and structure of the 2-2 draw between Netherlands and England highlighted the gap Pakistan must bridge to be competitive with the top five ranked teams here.

Jeroen Hertzberger scored early for Netherlands and Jonty Clarke claimed England’s equaliser before the break.

Rogier Hofman took the Dutch ahead early in the second half but Barry Middleton was on hand to convert a break-out from a Netherlands press to bring the scores level once again.

“It was a big game, played at a high standard and either side could have won it,” England coach Jason Lee said.

Dutch counterpart Paul van As said: “2-2 is not good enough, even though it was an open, fun game to watch.”Saturday’s matches pit Germany against England and Pakistan against the Netherlands.

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Pakistan player shine in athens

It was medals galore for Team Pakistan, competing in the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece, on Friday.

Pakistan’s Rabia Saeed got a gold medal in women’s singles badminton as did Bakhtawar Gul in the 100m race.

Meanwhile, Ayesha Iftikhar and Sakhawat Ali picked up silver medals in the 100m and 200m races, respectively.

Bilawal Aslam, who already has a gold in 1,000m/1km time trial cycling, and a bronze in 10km road race, won another bronze medal in 5km time trial cycling along with teammate Nazeer Ahmed

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Loss to BD no shocker as PFF continues to falter

Lack of practice, last-minute change of venues, defensive play, rain, a soggy pitch and a make-shift coach can all serve as good excuses for the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) for the national team’s 3-0 loss to Bangladesh in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Like good politicians, the PFF can also say that this was just the first match of the two-legged event and Pakistan is bound to bounce back in the second tie, to be played at home at the Punjab Stadium in Lahore on Sunday.

But the PFF, for the time being, has decided to remain mum about the causes of defeat while only announcing that they do not intend to replace the team coach after the loss.

“We will stick with Tariq Lutfi unless we have the option of getting a foreign coach,” said PFF Secretary General Col Ahmad Yar Khan Lodhi, while speaking to Dawn.

Whereas Pakistan’s most qualified coach Tariq Lutfi has been adopting a defensive strategy in one match after another and should now be sent home due to this persistent habit of his, he too in turn can point back a finger at the federation for their failure to lineup enough practice matches for the national team prior to the important qualifiers.

All the tours planned for the team couldn’t materialise as several countries declined due to their full schedules in reply to PFF’s proposals.

“What can we do?” Lodhi wondered aloud. “No team wants to tour Pakistan and when we want to visit some country, they say they are busy.”

But the fact is that the PFF, headed by a thorough politician Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, is better at playing politics than booking tours for its talented team.

While the PFF president may win all kinds of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA elections to get into all kinds committees, the laxity on his federation’s part foils all attempts of arranging good tours for the team. They only wake up a month or two ahead of a big event, which is of no use as tours are booked even years in advance.

As for the issue of finding a competent coach for the team, they are weighing qualifications rather than strategy. Perhaps that is why Pakistan has only won five games since the current PFF management took over in 2007.

They ignored so many offers from good foreign coaches who were willing to take on the challenge of training the side including Graham Roberts of England and Wolfgang Jerat of Germany, both of whom even came down to Pakistan but left without signing any deal.

The reason given by the PFF for not hiring them is lack of funds for which they blame the Pakistan Sports Board and the government. But they are still without a good foreign coach who is the need of the hour, despite Faisal Saleh Hayat being a part of the government now.

Sadly, in the past when the PFF did manage to get hold of a good coach, they antagonized him by quickly laying the blame on for the lost matches, as was done with George Kottan of Austria.

Yes, the PFF is only good at one thing, fulfilling AFC and FIFA’s requirements on paper to keep receiving the funds from them.

Meanwhile, the green jerseys, one of the 16 lowest-ranked teams playing the current home and away qualifiers, is now on the verge of crashing out in the first round itself after already losing two other important qualifying rounds this year such as the 2012 Olympic qualifying matches that they lost to Malaysia and the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers which they lost to India.

Their only chance to make it to the second round is to score a close-to-impossible 4-0 victory in the second leg.

No one here is interested in victories, really. And no one here will raise their voice against the workings of this incompetent federation as football in Pakistan is yet to achieve the kind of glory that came our way in cricket and hockey.

So while the National Assembly and Senate standing committees on sports and the various sports ministers continue to demand answers from national cricket and hockey managements for their poor performances, no one really worries about football despite the untapped talent for the world famous game available in the country.

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Boxing squad to leave for jakarta today

A five-member Pakistan boxing team will fly to Jakarta on Friday to feature in the 21st President’s Cup international boxing tournament being held there from July 3 to 9.

The five pugilists will be accompanied by three officials.

Squad:
Boxers: Muhibullah (49kg), Mohammad Waseem (52kg), Syed Mohammad Hussain (56kg), Amir Khan (64kg), Arshad Hussain (69kg).

Officials: Ali Bakhsh (coach), Lal Shah (assistant coach), Syed Mohammad Sharif (referee judge).

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Shumaila takes gold in special olympics

Team Pakistan won another gold and silver medal, this time in the Bocce singles event at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece.

Shumaila Rubab of Pakistan bagged the third gold for the country in the ball game for low ability athletes on Wednesday evening.

Tahir Siddique picked up a silver medal in shot-put early on Thursday when he sent a throw measuring 8.32 metres

Meanwhile, the Pakistan women basketball team beat UAE 19-4 in the qualifying round.—

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Germany, France into world cup quater-finals

European sides Germany and France booked the first two quarter-final spots in the women’s World Cup from Group A on Thursday, eliminating Nigeria and Canada in contrasting fashion.

France over-ran CONCACAF champions Canada 4-0 in Bochum to assure their first ever place in the final eight, before defending champions Germany spluttered to a 1-0 win over Nigeria in Frankfurt.

A double from Gaetane Thiney (24, 60) and second-half goals from Camille Abily (66) and Elodie Thomis (83) gave France a maximum six points from two games to take top spot in the group.

Germany, also on maximum points, struggled to impose themselves against a battling Nigerian side, however, until midfielder Simone Laudehr scored the crucial goal after 54 minutes.

The stage is now set for a much-anticipated clash between the French and Germans in their final group game in front of 50,000 spectators in Moenchengladbach next Tuesday, with top spot in Group A at stake.

“It’s among the two matches which count the most in the history of French women’s football, after qualification for the 2003 World Cup,” said France coach Bruno Bini.

“But we haven’t obtained our goal yet. We’re savouring this one. It’s well deserved; the girls took the match by the scruff of the neck. A World Cup quarter-final that warms the heart.”

Nigeria will be heading home after their final match against Canada in Dresden the same day, when both teams will be playing for pride after two successive defeats.

After their impressive 2-1 win over Canada on Sunday, this was a less assured performance from two-time winners Germany.

They failed to get a clear shot on goal in the first half and were briefly booed by the sell-out crowd at the half-time whistle with the game scoreless.

Germany finally imposed themselves after the break and it was the introduction of the experienced Inka Grings on 52 minutes for captain Birgit Prinz that made an impact.

Barely two minutes later, the veteran forward latched onto a free-kick and her delicate back heel fell into the path of Laudehr, who fired home in plenty of space.

Having won the 2003 and 2007 editions of the World Cup, Germany will need to raise their game if Silvia Neid’s side are going to return to Frankfurt on July 17 to contest the final.

“We are into the quarter-finals, but without too much glory,” said Neid.

“There was a lot of stress, because we wanted to reach the quarter-finals and that seemed to hinder us. We still have plenty to work on.”

France, who beat Nigeria 1-0 in their first match, were all over Carolina Morace’s Canada from the outset, with Marie-Laure Delie forcing a save from Erin McLeod after seven minutes.

France’s pressing paid off after 24 minutes when Thiney picked up a shot deflected off unfortunate Canadian defender Emily Zurrer to head into the net.

McLeod did well to keep out a Louisa Necib lob on 30 minutes with Delie missing two efforts before the interval.

But after the break the French ran riot, with Thiney picking up a Delie cross to curl into the goal on 60 minutes.

The third came six minutes later after a defensive error from Canada allowed Abily to latch onto a Sandrine Soubeyrand assist to head in.

Canada skipper Christine Sinclair, playing with a ‘Catwoman’ face mask to protect her broken nose, received a knock to the face and was off the pitch as the French completed the rout against the 2003 semi-finalists.

Seven minutes from time Thomis, who a late substitute for Delie, broke through to advance past an advancing McLeod and coolly finish to the delight of the 16,000-plus crowd.

On Friday, the competition continues with the second round of Group B games, with leaders Japan playing Mexico in Leverkusen, while England take on New Zealand in Dresden.

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