Pakistan face Bahrain Under-23 team in practice match today

KARACHI: Pakistan football team will face Bahrain Under-23 team in a practice match at the Bahrain National Stadium on Tuesday (today).

The match will be held at night.

This is the first practice match which the Green-shirts will be playing during their camp at Bahrain. Pakistan are preparing for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers first round against Cambodia.

A Pakistan team official told ‘The News’ from Manama on Monday that the players had got into a good shape. “The practice match will help us learn more about the unit. We have mostly under-23 players and I hope it will be a good match,” the official said. He praised Bahrain Football Association for its support during their stay at Manama.

The official said that former Fulham defender Zeeshan Rehman would join the team on Wednesday (tomorrow). “Zesh will come on Wednesday. He had informed us that he would reach after dealing with some family matter,” the official said.

He said former Danish Superliga player Adnan Mohammad, who now plays in Denmark’s first division after his club got relegated from top league, would come on May 31. “He is going to play a club game on May 30 and would most probably reach Bahrain the next day,” the official said.

Pakistan camp is being supervised by Brazilian coach Jose Antonio Nogueira. The camp has been organised by FIFA-recognised Pakistan Football Federation (PFF). Ashfaq Hussain-led PFF is holding a training camp at the Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad.

Pakistan will face Cambodia in Cambodia in the away leg on June 6. Pakistan will host the home leg against Cambodia in Doha on June 11. The winners will move into the second round to be held later this summer.