KARACHI: Pakistan were off to a flying start when they defeated Bangladesh by 1-0 in their opener of the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Football tournament held at the Jayathilaka Stadium in Nawalapitiya (Sri Lanka) on Monday.
Chaman-born newly-inserted striker Saeed Ahmed scored the winner in the 80th minute. Bilawal-ur-Rehman got the ball in the midfield area and passed it to Kaleemullah who dribbled past a row of defenders and his shoot was smartly intercepted by Saeed Ahmed who then nudged it to the net.
Earlier, Pakistan played extremely well but the frontline squandered most of the opportunities that came their way.
Pakistan coach Zavisa Milosavljevic was not satisfied with the demonstration of technically ability of his players. “From the result point of view, it was a good match as we won it but I am not satisfied with the way the players displayed their skills in spite of the fact that they were very much disciplined and in good shape,” Zavisa told ‘The News’ from Nawalapitiya after the match.
“We will have to work extremely hard to improve the players technically and tactically as it is very important part of the game and without it the success is very difficult,” said the Serbian, who has been Pakistan coach for the last one year.
He was also not satisfied with the condition of the pitch. “It was a grassy pitch but I think it was not of international standard.”
Pakistan will be meeting Maldives on Wednesday (tomorrow) at the same venue in their second match at 1:30pm PST. Earlier, hosts Sri Lanka tasted a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Maldives in their opener.
H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa International Football Tournament -Nawalapitiya-Jayathilaka Stadium-Sri Lanka
Match Results (Monday, December 3, 2012)
Pakistan beat Bangladesh 1:0 @ 1530 Hours PST (1600 Hours SST) @ Jayathilaka Stadium, Nawalapitiya, Sri Lanka
Scorer Pakistan: Saeed Ahmed (FW) 1 Goal @ 80 Mnt.
H.E. Mahinda Rajaksa International Football Tournament-Nawalapitiya-
Fixture :( Wednesday, December 5, 2012)
Pakistan Vs Maldives @ 1330 Hours PST (1400 Hours SST) @ Jayathilaka Stadium, Nawalapitiya, Sri Lanka