Pakistan still interested in Bahraini coach Sharida

KARACHI: Pakistan is still interested in the Bahraini coach Salman Sharida and has asked the Bahrain football authorities to release Sharida or any other coach, which could suit the Pakistani team.

An internal source told ‘The News’ on Saturday that Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is keen to get back the services of Sharida as he was the person, who did his best to impart technically sound knowledge to the senior and junior lots.

‘The News’ has learnt from reliable sources that some top class Pakistani players are also interested in Sharida, and are of the view that Sharida was the person who knew the psyche of Pakistani players better, and they had learnt a lot from him during his one year tenure as a coach.

The tall, frail-looking gentleman quit the Pakistan coaching after his expiry of a year-long contract soon after the 15th Asian Games which were held at Doha in December last year because he wanted an increase in his pay which the PFF was unable to meet.

Pakistan had not only grabbed a gold medal in the tenure of the Bahraini coach in the 10th South Asian Games in Sri Lanka in August 2006, but also remained impressive by giving a tough time to teams like Japan, Korea and Syria during the 15th Asian Games.

The director operations of PFF Pervez Saeed Mir also confirmed that federation has sent a letter to Bahrain football authorities for the release of Sharida or any other coach, which could suit the Pakistani team and the federation.

“We have written to the football authorities of Bahrain and are looking for a coach, which could also be Sharida,” Mir said.

However, Mir said that the matter was not yet settled and it would be premature to say who could be the next coach of the Pakistan football team in the near future.

“The PFF is serious over the matter and will soon shortlist a coach out of the twelve coaches of the Gulf countries who have submitted their bio-data with the PFF for the grand assignment as Pakistan is in dire need of a qualified coach, which could only lift the team technically and mentally,” Mir remarked.

Sharida had also shown willingness in the assignment during his talks with ‘The News’ from Bahrain last month and had said, “I am still interested to coach the Pakistan team, because I like Pakistan and its people, but the PFF will have to meet my demand regarding increase in my package.”

On the matter of hiring the services of a foreign coach, the federation has been a complete failure so far, because it has been in search of such a foreign coach who could agree on a moderate pay.

On the other hand the Pakistani players feel uneasy with the indigenous coaches, and are of the view that the local coaches cannot put the teams on a winning track.

The other day, the skipper of the Under-21 football team Zahid Hameed, in an interview with ‘The News’ after the team’s arrival from Qatar had solely held the national coach Muhammad Rasheed responsible for the bad showing of the team in the Beijing Olympics Qualifiers.

He had said “Had Pakistan enjoyed the support of Sharida, the team would have performed well.” Pakistan lost all the six matches they played in the second round of Group-A, which also featured Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.