Pakistan on brink of AFC U22 qualifiers exit after Kyrgyz loss

KYRGYZSTAN

Penalty Kick

by our correspondent

Pakistan U22s stand on brink of going out of the AFC U22 Asian Championship qualifiers Group B after being comprehensively beaten by Kyrgyzstan 2-0 at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia earlier tonight 28 June 2012.

Pakistan coach Zavisa Milosavljevic made a bold statement by dropping the misfiring captain Kaleem Ullah from the starting XI, after expressing disappointment in the KRL stalwart’s lack of leadership on the pitch in the earlier games. NBP’s Faisal Iqbal was given the captain’s armband in a must-win game in which Pakistan failed to do exactly that.

Pakistan were forced to make other changes with KPT striker Junaid Qadir suspended and defender Ahsan Ullah suffering an injury which ruled him out of remaining matches.

Kyrgyzstan started quickly and asked questions of Pakistani defence and goalkeeper Saqib Hanif, hitting few shots on target in the first 20 minutes and keeping more of the ball. Pakistan failed to respond in the required manner and struggled to build plays that would challenge the Kyrgyzstan defence.

Pakistan in the previous game against Sri Lanka had blamed poor finishing but in this game they didn’t get closer to Kyrgyz goal in the first 20 minutes and attempted from distance. Pakistan lacked all the urgency Kyrgyzstan displayed in closing down the opposition, showing composure on the ball and playing some nice passing football.

Pakistan took their time to get into the game as first half progressed and started to build attacks but again with no great conviction, they failed to seriously test the goalkeeper.

Kyrgyzstan had hit 5 shots on target by the end of the first half with Pakistan only managing 1 and no corner with Kyrgyz dominating that statistic too with 4 corners in 1st half. However it remained 0-0 at half time with credit going to goalkeeper Saqib Hanif who has been in terrific form so far in these qualifiers. if it wasn’t for his saves Pakistan would have been trailing in the first half.

It was surprising to see Pakistan play deep especially when they need to win this match and there was very little support being provided to the forward line, which has been left agitated so far in the 3 matches.

Pakistan started the second half on much positive note, trying to attack on every given opportunity and made attempts on goal but failed to score. After a short spell of Pakistan attack Kyrgyzstan started to control the game again with Pakistani midfield falling further deep into its own half allowing the Kyrgyz midfield more freedom. Pakistani team lacked the aggression which the coach had demanded.

Kyrgyz wingers played the off-side trap cleverly for the both goals with Pakistani defence being unable to clear their lines in the conceding 2 goals in 5 minutes from Kaiumzhan Sharipov and Nurkal Sataev (74′, 79′) to finish off any hopes of a Pakistan comeback.

It was very lacklustre performance by Pakistan given the extensive preparations the team undertook in last 2 and half months with trips to Thailand, Palestine and Bahrain. But the improvement the boys had shown on those tours was just not evident against Kyrgyzstan. The result showed that Pakistan were just simply not good enough at the end of the day.

Pakistan has now failed to score in 3 consecutive games in these qualifiers and a huge concern for the coach in the coming games if they are to return home with respectable finishing in the Group as Pakistan now sit 5th in the group with just single point.

In other games, Syria and hosts Saudi Arabia registered easy 4-0 wins over their opponents Sri Lanka and Palestine respectively to maintain their 100% record in Group B of the AFC U-22 Championship 2013 qualifiers.

Midfielder Mahmoud Al Mawas, who scored the winner as Syria Edged Kyrgyzstan 1-0 in their Group B opener, struck half-an-hour into Thursday’s match at the Prince Faisal bin Fahad Stadium and added a second on the hour-mark to put his side on the road for a third consecutive victory following the defeat of Kyrgyzstan and an equally hard-fought triumph over Palestine (2-1).

A Sri Lankan own goal made it 3-0 with ten minutes remaining before substitute Salem found the net a minute into stoppage-time for Syria’s seventh of the campaign, one more than the Saudis who have an identical goal difference.

The Group B hosts went into the earlier match at the King Fahd International Stadium looking for their third straight win following 1-0 defeats of Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan and they achieved this courtesy of a Mohammed Yahya Majrashi double (18^th and 58^th) and goals from Ibrahim Taher Al Ibrahim (44^th) and Salem Mohammed Al Dawsari (59^th).

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Syria	3	3	0	0	7	1	+6	9
Saudi Arabia	3	3	0	0	6	0	+6	9
Kyrgyzstan	3	1	0	2	2	2	0	3
Sri Lanka	3	0	2	1	1	5	−4	2
Pakistan	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1
Palestine	3	0	1	2	2	7	−5	1

AFC U-22 CHAMPIONSHIP 2013				QUALIFICATION
	28-06-2012 20:45 AST		King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA		40

	90 minutes		KAIUMZHAN SHARIPOV
	VERY HOT		40 C

Lineups

KYRGYZSTAN

PAKISTAN

1	GK	MAKSIM ZINCHENKO
3	DF	VALERII KICHIN (C)
4	DF	AKRAMZHON UMAROV	90+1
5	DF	VLADIMIR KAZAKBAEV
7	FW	KAIUMZHAN SHARIPOV	73
8	MF	MIRBEK KUDAIBERDIEV
9	MF	ISLAM SHAMSHIEV
11	MF	IGOR IVANOV
12	MF	FARKHAT MUSABEKOV	46
15	DF	MARAT ADZHINIIAZOV
17	MF	EVGENII DOROGINSKII	63

1	GK	SAQIB HANIF
2	MF	FAISAL IQBAL (C)
3	DF	MANZOOR AHMAD
7	MF	BILAWAL-UR-REHMAN	54
8	MF	MAHMOOD KHAN	79
15	DF	NAVEED
17	DF	SADDAM HUSSAIN
20	DF	NOOR MUHAMMAD	30
21	MF	ADIL
27	FW	MUHAMMAD
44	FW	RIAZ AHMED

Substitutes

2	DF	VLADISLAV BARSUKOV	90+1
10	FW	ALEKSANDR VOITSEKHOVSKII
16	GK	RUSLAN DZHANYBEKOV
18	MF	NURKAL SATAEV	78 63
19	MF	ROMAN DZHABAEV
21	MF	SALAMAT MAMBETALIEV	46

9	MF	SHER
10	MF	KALEEMULLAH
13	DF	AHSANULLAH
14	FW	ZAKIR LASHARI
16	FW	RASHID ALI
18	MF	MOHSIN ALI	30
22	GK	MUZAMMIL HUSSAIN
23	MF	IMRAN ALI KHAN	79
26	DF	AMIR SIDDIQUI
31	MF	DAHAR ABDUL UR REHMAN BAIG	54
33	GK	TANVEER