‘More international exposure will prepare U-16 boys for senior team’

LAHORE: Manager-cum-coach of the SAFF champions Pakistan under-16 football team, Hasan Baloch, said the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) should provide more international matches to this team to form a formidable senior team in next eight to ten years.

“The boys are good and shaping well, but they need more international exposure to hone their skills and if they get the opportunity of international matches they can form a strong senior team in next eight to ten years,” Hasan told Dawn.

The under-16 team won the title, recently after defeating arch-rivals India 2-1 in the final in Nepal.

“I have been associated with these boys for the last two years and as an under-14 unit, the boys won second position in the football festival, held in Iran, and now they clinched the SAFF title in the presence of strong teams like India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka,” he said.

“It shows the boys have the spark and they need a good handling to form a strong senior team,” he said.

He said the PFF was doing its best to provide all facilities within its limited resources.

Asked if the under-16 side needed any foreign coach at this level, Hasan disagreed and said the PFF should hire a foreign coach for its senior team with giving him additional charge to also train local coaches.

“The Indian team came in Nepal for this competition after attending a nine-month-long training camp in Los Angles, USA, while the hosts Nepal have a British coach, but our team remained unbeaten to finally win the championship,” Hasan said.

He said the players and their parents were happy after the PFF announced a cash prize of Rs3 million for the squad and now the boys would show more commitment and dedication to make football their career.

He said Pakistan defeated India twice, first in the league and then in the final, which was a great achievement.

He said Mohammad Bilal, who remained top scorer of the event with four goals, all against Maldives, along with Mansoor Ali, Zeeshan Ali and captain Munir Aftab were outstanding in the tournament and are improving with the passage of time.

Colts start preparations for AFC qualifiers

Alam Zeb Safi [The News]

KARACHI: After winning the SAFF title in Nepal, Pakistan colts will start their preparations for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-16 Championship 2012 qualifiers from Monday (tomorrow) in Lahore.

Pakistan have been placed in Group B with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yemen, Kuwait, Maldives and Afghanistan. All the matches of the group will be conducted at the Mohammed Al Hamad Stadium and Sabah Al Salem Stadium in Kuwait from September 12-22.

Pakistan will open their campaign on September 12 against Maldives, followed by their games against Kuwait on September14, UAE on September 17, Afghanistan on September 19, and against Yemen on September 22. Two teams from the group will make it to the tournament proper which will be held next year.

Overall 39 teams from the zones West (22 teams) and East (17) have been placed in seven different groups. The best third-placed team from West and East Zone will also qualify for next year’s tournament. The reigning Under-16 champions are DPR Korea.

The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) have retained the same coaching panel of head coach Sajjad Mehmood and assistant coach Hasan Baloch for the qualifiers. Sajjad did a commendable job as he led the young brigade over India 2-1 in the SAFF final in Kathmandu on August 10. The same 22-man squad has also been retained.

“We will go with the same victorious lot in the camp,” PFF secretary Col Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi told ‘The News’ on Saturday.

The victorious side was given a two-day rest after their return from Nepal on Thursday. They will also be extended an Iftar dinner by the PFF at its headquarters in Lahore on Sunday (today).

Although Pakistan have two tough teams — UAE and Kuwait — in their group, Sajjad is confident that Pakistan would put them in trouble in the qualifiers.

“Although, I have not seen them but the youth batches from the Middle East are not that strong and we are confident that we will also beat them to make it to the tournament proper,” Sajjad said.

He said that the training sessions of the colts will be held at the Punjab Stadium in Lahore under floodlights due to the month of Ramadan.

“We have just returned after playing a major tournament. We know where we are facing problems and what is wrong with the boys. And every effort would be made during the camp to remove the deficiencies of the boys,” Sajjad said.

Squad: Usman Khan, Syed Hassan Mujtaba, Muhammad Boota (all goalkeepers), Malik Dilshad Ahmed, Muneer Aftab, Shahbaz Masih, Rashid Noor, Babar Ali, Basit Amin (all defenders), Bilal Asghar, Muhammad Sohail, Sanaullah, Raza Ali, Haider Ali, Muhammad Zeeshan, Yawar (all midfielders), Sher Ali, Ashfaq Uddin, Muhammad Bilal, Zain-Ul-Aabdeen, Mansoor Khan Tanzeel (strikers), Sajjad Mahmood (coach), Muhammad Hassan Baloch (assistant coach).