‘Irfan Jr, Atiq being groomed for centre forward position’

KARACHI: Pakistan head coach and manager Hasan Sardar has said that the team management was trying to improve the skills of Irfan Junior and Atiq as centre forwards to get good results.

“Our fitness is up to the mark, our defenders and goalkeepers are playing well. We need to score goals through PC experts or forwards and during the present training camp we have worked hard on both PC experts and forwards,” Sardar told ‘The News’.

He said that except Oman, all participating teams are tough. “We have to go all out, with an attacking game plan. Whatever mistakes we committed in the Asian Games, we will not repeat in the Asian Champions Trophy,” he added.

Sardar said that Pakistan would go with different game plans, keeping in view the strengths and weaknesses of each team.

Assistant coach Saqlain, who is worked with PC drag flickers, said that he was trying to polish the skills of Aleem Bilal and Mubashir.

Both have improved their ratio of goal scoring during the practice sessions, he added. They would be used in the event according to the need of the hour, said Saqlain.

Assistant coach Rehan Butt said that the management had observed the gray areas of opponent teams at the Asian Games. “All the participant teams in Asian Champions Trophy know each other very well. Attacking game plan will be our priority so that we create goal opportunities,” he added.

Rehan said Pakistan would go all out in the event. “After losing in the Asian Games, we have nothing to lose,” he added.

During the last six months, Pakistan used various forwards on centre forward position but not a single goal was scored by any of them against strong teams, said team officials.

It may be noted that Roelant Oltmans, who had been the head coach of Pakistan until recently, also failed to produce the desired results in his eight-month tenure.

Pakistan team departed for Oman on Sunday night for participation in the Asian Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held from October 18-28 in Muscat.

The Green-shirts will play their first match on October 19 against South Korea. They will play against archrivals India on October 20, hosts Oman on 22, Asian champions Japan on 24, and Malaysia on 25. Both semi-finals will be played on October 27. The final will be played on October 28.