by The Analytic Agency / Jasper Reichardt
Pakistan tested Nepal at home and showed great potential but struggled to keep up in fitness and match practice. Overall ratings of players and their graded performance:
0 – Excellent – A
6 – Good – B
8 – Okay – C
2 – Enough – D
0 – Not Enough – E
Kathmandu Audience
GOOD+ (B+)
Great, friendly atmosphere in the Dasharath Rangasala Stadium which heartily welcomed a revived Pakistan Team after a long time.
Referee Team
Sachin Amatya (Nepal), Rojen Shrestha (Nepal), Rajesh Shrestha (Nepal)
OKAY (C)
Could have pulled 2-3 more yellow cards to make an rough, but mostly fair, game cleaner. Stopped play due to injury situations later in a rarely undisrupted game flow. Missed a clear foul on Bashir, but overall did an OKAY performance.
Coach Shahzad Anwar
OKAY (C)
Interesting strategy and a promising lineup from Pakistan’s Top Coach. Choose a 4-3-3 focusing on countering an agile Nepal. Iqbal was lined up and put to great use in defensive midfield. Could have substituted Bashir in halftime for a more versatile Waheed but kept to the Captains leadership and did no lineup changes. Substituted Waheed for unlucky Zain early which prompted a formation change to 4-4-2 and followed up with Adnan Saeed for injured Alamgir and Afzaal for exhausted Dost. In conclusion an OKAY performance of Coach Shahzad Anwar which left room for more but pointed into the right direction.
Yousuf Butt #1
0 – 97’
OKAY (C)
Would have been easily a good day for Pakistan’s #1 if it wasn’t for the crucial mistake he made when choosing not to advance off his line and intervene before the 0-1. Had solid moments in commanding and ordering defense and was concentrated and limited Nepal’s dangerous moments to mostly corners and long passes that ended in his arms. Room for more!
Alamgir Ghazi #31
0 – 74′
GOOD – (B-)
If it wasn’t for some optimistic passes that were not the best available option, Alamgir would have had a genius day. His almost perfect cross pass to Waleed in 11′ showed the technical finesse Alamgir is capable of. His harmony with Shayek Dost was telepathy. His tireless work-rate and his well-dosed aggression made the Pakistan midfield offensively dangerous based on the more defensive Zain and an excellent Iqbal. Was substituted slightly injured but proved definitely a player ready for the next step.
Hassan Bashir #10
0 – 91’
ENOUGH- (D-)
Used day for Pakistan’s most experienced player. His leadership and goosebumps motivational speech before the game are valuable to a very young team. Being a captain means on average average a grading worse than the rest of the team with the same effort, so with a somewhat uneasy feeling we decided to grade Bashir a D-.
Tried to use his physique and aggression to block and stress Nepal’s defense, but could not integrate well with both wingers as well as with the midfield and fell short of occupying space and offensively necessary sprints – struggled to be a reliant target-man either. Noteworthy he suffered from unlucky referee decisions. Had a very good chance at scoring but missed the target. One can expect more from Bashir and it will be hard for him to justify his lineup for 90 minutes if he does not show the performance he is capable of at Ishøj IF in Denmark.
Zain ul Abideen Ishaq #7
0 – 60’
OKAY+ (C+)
Fought fearless for balls throughout the game but was not as well-dosed in his tackling and straddles as already seen. Could not run up to the excellent offensive transition moments he had in NT camp versus an opponent like Nepal. A tireless performance which hinted good potential for the future.
Shayek Dost #8
0 – 78’
GOOD- (B-)
Same as Alamgir, Shayek showed great effort. He tirelessly worked and harmonized greatly with his former teammate from U19. Had a great moment in minute 11 when they both executed an almost perfect counterattack. Had a shot at the goal, but fell short of linking nicely with either Waleed and Bashir. Was especially useful when out of possession. Overall good Performance with room for more.
Abdullah Iqbal #4
0 – 97’
GOOD+ (B+)
Excellent Performance from Iqbal. Despite playing in an unfamiliar position and having not had time to integrate into the team, Iqbal proved a gigantic asset for the team. He interpreted his role in defensive midfield as aggressive sweeper and executed it with great sensitivity for the right amount of tackling – helped win a lot of balls, transitioned nicely into attack and used his body to block or stop attacking opponents. Managed to even have chances to score. Best performer of the squad.
Abdul Qadeer Khan #13
0 – 97’
OKAY+ (C+)
Had, as the whole defense, a solid performance who never really seemed to struggle, though there were a lot of last-man situations. Had impressive blocks and was exact in his passes and tackles – did some miscalculations but never failed to fix his mistakes quickly. Had some offensive opportunities that were not well executed, shadowing his overall good performance a bit. Proved a reliable left back.
Muhammad Waheed #9
60′ – 97′
GOOD (B)
Somewhat surprisingly not set from the start, Waheed entered the game for Zain. He showed great motivation and determination, bringing badly needed speed dribbling and agility into the game. Had a promising interception pressing high, but wasn’t gifted with luck. In Minute 93′ had a genius moment but his shot was deflected to harmlessness by a defender. Overall very promising performance.
Waleed Khan #19
0 – 97’
GOOD- (B-)
Set from the start, Waleed hinted at his pace and skills on the left wing. Had some problems in regards to fitness and needed to rest his legs twice. He was not as well included into the game as his counterpart on the right wing and could not come into situations to progress the ball quickly on the left wing. Had a good dribbling in the box but could not manage to keep the ball infield. Gave the pass to Pakistan’s biggest chance which was narrowly missed by Bashir. Had another possible assist with a cross pass later on which yielded no fruit. Fell off later in the game due to cramps, overall seemed a valuable and gifted player for the future if better linked with midfield and fully fit.
Abdullah Shah #15
0 – 97’
ENOUGH+ (D+)
Struggled with decisions overall. Out of possession he always had to put out fires and at times unnecessarily got stuck to his player in a man-marking orientation, leaving space in behind, which affected buildup. In possession did not build up in a meaningful way. Could have been played more solid and Shah will not be happy with his performance, but nevertheless the defence worked as a collective. Room for More.
Mamoon Musa Khan #5
0 – 97’
GOOD- (B-)
Had a better performance than his partner but also struggled with building up meaningfully, passing back to Butt frequently and resorting to long balls. Overall the defense was effective in standards and did not look too troubled, despite agile Nepalese players who fell not short of attacking. Is not to blame for the late goal perceived.
Rao Umer Hayat #2
0 – 97’
OKAY (C)
Was more solid offensively than his counterpart on the left side, but may have profited from the effective zone Alamgir-Shayek created on the right wing. Did have problems to build up the game effectively, but this was a collective problem throughout the game. Lost his man in 82’ which, together with Butt not intervening, led to the 0-1. Did not move too well in coordination while pressing.
Muhammad Afzaal #16
78 – 97’
OKAY (C)
Was substituted in for Dost, did not have enough time to make an Impression.
Adnan Saeed #17
78 -97
OKAY (C)
Was substituted in for Alamgir, did not have enough time to make an Impression.
Umair Ali #18
91 – 97
OKAY (C)
Was substituted in for Bashir, did not have enough time to make an Impression.