Pak soccer team’s Brazilian coach Nogueira arrives

KARACHI: Pakistan football team’s newly-hired Brazilian coach Jose Antonio Nogueira on Wednesday reached here to begin his Pakistan’s stint as a coach. After taking some rest he rushed to the All Brothers Football Club Ground in Malir to witness the National Challenge Cup match between National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Falcon FC. Nogueira said he was here in Pakistan to see the National Challenge Cup. “I will try my best to keep talented players in the national team and will try together to develop a new level of football in Pakistan,” the Brazilian said. His services have been hired for three years. Bahrain Football Association (BFA) has assisted Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) in hiring the services of Nogueira, who has vast experience of coaching both inside and outside Brazil. It would not be easy for the Brazilian to put Pakistan’s team back on the track. The last three inactive years have destroyed the country’s football beyond repair. During the same period of internal conflict Pakistan never toured abroad. It has also failed during the same period to organise its Premier League. This is after long three years that the National Challenge Cup is being held in the port city. The first task before Nogueira is to shortlist players for the camp for the forthcoming international events this year. Pakistan in August-September would be featuring in the Asian Games in Indonesia and in the early September the Greenshirts would participate in the SAFF Championships in Bangladesh. A Technical Study Group (TSG) is already working to shortlist players for the national camp. The TSG group is headed by Pakistan’s experienced coach Siddiq Sheikh and also carries former Pakistan’s captain Mohammad Essa.