Zavisa willing to serve Pakistan again

KARACHI: Pakistan’s former football coach Zavisa Milosavljevic has said that if he gets another chance to serve as Pakistan coach he will happily do that.“Why not? I will serve again if I get a chance,” Zavisa told ‘The News’ in an informal chat from Serbia on Sunday.

Zavisa coached Pakistan from November 2011 until he was removed just a few months before the expiry of his two-year contract with the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF). He was sacked hours after Pakistan lost their friendly against Afghanistan in Kabul in August 2013.

He had been replaced by Bahraini coach Mohammad Shamlan who quit in 2015. Since then Pakistan has been a non-playing nation as national teams have not toured abroad for the last 26 months due to conflict between FIFA-recognised PFF and Arshad Lodhi group. The case is in the court and FIFA has warned Pakistan of suspension.

Zavisa keeps an eye on Pakistan’s football affairs and is not happy with the state of the game because of the conflict. “I think the issue has inflicted a huge damage on the players as they have not played international football for the last two years,” Zavisa said.

The Serbian served the country even after he was removed, as he got a few Pakistani players places in Dordoi Bishkek, the then Kyrgyzstan champions. Zavisa was coach of that team. From Dordoi, Pakistan’s star striker Kaleemullah signed an American club which plays in the United Soccer League (USL).

“I have spent good time in Pakistan and helping Pakistani players during my stint with Dordoi Bishkek was my obligation,” he said.He said that Pakistan needed a solid football structure. “There is immense talent in Pakistan but it needs a proper system, a solid pro league, youth programmes and induction of technical minds in the PFF,” Zavisa said.

He said that he did not see any improvement in the Premier League during his stay in Pakistan. “Unless you have a better league your national team will not improve,” he said. Under Zavisa, Pakistani players had learnt how to play technical football. He transformed the system by making the players able to play with subtle touches and ground passes.