AFC Youth Qualifying Championship
Soccer team aims to gain some consolation

DUSHANBE—Their qualifying chances already blown away, Pakistan Youth football team will be aiming to beat hosts Tajikistan to gain some consolation in the Group E of the AFC Youth qualifying championship here today (Friday) in their second and last match at Republic Stadium.
The 3-0 defeat at the hands of strong Uzbekistan have put the Pak juniors in a no way out situation unless they beat the Tajik side with a clear margin of 4-0 and then the host country even manages a goalless draw against Uzbek team, then they ( Pak) stand a chance to top their group to qualify for the main round of the championship which will be played next year in India.
But in this situation only a miracle can see them through. But even if this miracle happens then the group winner will be decided on goal average from the three teams.
Knowing the sour reality that both the Central Asian States countries are too good, the green shirts will be facing another uphill task when they play the hosts.
But in the given circumstances the focus of attention of team management is to score a win against the home side to salvage their pride.
“We know that we cannot qualify but it does not mean that we should lose hope and thinking on these lines can result in another defeat”, said Head Coach, Muhammad Sadiduqe Sheikh and coach Muhammad Rasheed while talking to APP on the eve of the match Thursday.
They said the coming match is equally important and a win can infuse the lost confidence in the young side. “If we manage to beat the Tajik side it would show that the progress graph of youth football is on a upward trend”.
Team’s Captain Khalid Munir said the defeat in the opening match is now a saga of past and its sour memories will be not haunting his side in the coming match.
“We must not be forgetting that it was my team’s first ever international match and expecting extra ordinary results from us is not fair as football is being revived in Pakistan after being years in wilderness”, he said.
Answering a question, he said, the team will more organized in attacks and will try to not repeat the mistakes of its earlier match. “We are confident to go on further in a much batter way to beat our rivals”.
He said a win can bring back the lost confidence in the players and there is no remedy but to go for a kill against the Tajik team. The third and last match of the group will be played between the Uzbek and Tajik teams on November 27.—APP