Shamlan aims to reach second round

KARACHI: Pakistan football team coach Mohammed Shamlan said on Sunday that he wanted his team to qualify for the second round of the World Cup qualifiers.
“It’s my real target to see my side make it to the second round. I trust my players and if they did not make any big mistake, we would beat Yemen,” Shamlan told ‘The News’ in an interview after returning from the tours of Malaysia and Thailand where Pakistan played two practice matches each.
Shamlan said that the players were mentally charged. “Yes, they are really enthusiastic for the games against Yemen. We have tried to keep them mentally prepared for the major challenge,” said the former Bahraini defender.
Pakistan will face Yemen in the first leg of the qualifiers at Doha on March 12.
Yemen opted to host Pakistan in Qatar because of political unrest in their country.
The return leg will be staged at Punjab Stadium, Lahore, on March 17.
Shamlan said the back-to-back tours of Malaysia and Thailand were productive. “These were training tours and were good enough. There were some problems in the frontline; the finishing was not up to the mark; and we also missed a penalty in Thailand. In Malaysia a goalkeeper made a basic mistake but we then worked on him and he has improved,” the coach said.
He was not satisfied with the fitness level of the home-grown players who are playing abroad. “Kaleem, Aadil and Saddam joined us in Thailand and their fitness level was a bit down but they are fast improving,” said Shamlan.
He was satisfied with experienced defender Nabil Aslam. “Nabil is a good player. He has vast experience. The most positive thing in him is that he has made strong relations with his fellow players in a short time. His attitude is good and I expect a lot from him,” the coach said of the player who is based in Denmark.
Shamlan said that Nabil also led the side in friendlies in Malaysia and Thailand. He claimed that they had strong defence. “We have two very good central defenders in Zeeshan Rehman and Nabil Aslam. Besides them, we have so many other options as Bilal, Ahmed, Sufyan and Mohsin are good players. Ahmed can also be used in the midfield,” Shamlan added.
To a query, he said they would play attacking game against Yemen.
“You know, I believe in aggressive strategy and we will play aggressive game against Yemen,” the coach said.
Former Fulham defender Zeeshan Rehman and Danish strikers Hassan Bashir and Mohammad Ali would join the team in Doha. “Yes, they will join us in Doha. I haven’t seen Ali, while Hassan and Kaleem did not play together in practice games. But we will have a couple of days before our game against Yemen in Doha. I am hopeful they will gel soon,” he said.
After playing the two matches in Kuala Lumpur, Hassan left for Denmark to play for his club.
Zeeshan will lead the side against Yemen. One of Nabil, Kaleem and Hassan may be his deputy.
Pakistan team will fly out of Lahore for Karachi at 10pm on Monday (today). And from here they will depart for Dubai at 5am on Tuesday (tomorrow). They will reach Doha at 8:30am as the duration of journey from Dubai to Doha is hardly 45 minutes.