Pakistan are out of the running to progress in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship as the team succumbed to another 4-0 defeat in the competition on Saturday evening at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore.
Pakistan were thrashed by Kuwait, courtesy of a dispersed defense and barely any pressure from the forwards on the opponents.
The 23-year-old Mobarak Al-Faneeni proved to be too agile for the Pakistani defense, beating them to score twice.
The team conceded their first goal in the 10th minute when Hasan al Enezi scored on a stray ball, seemingly upsetting the Pakistani goalkeeper Yousaf Ejaz Butt.
It was the Al-Faneeni show just after six minutes when the youngster found the back of the net on an Eid Naser Al Rashedi’s pass. The right-winger was instrumental in keeping the Pakistani defense, literally and figuratively, on their toes.
Al-Faneeni made no mistake in extending the lead for Kuwait in the first minute of extra time in the first half. The defense again looked too far away to catch Al-Faneeni and he grabbed the opportunity to slot into an almost empty net.
Kuwait were hungry for more and in the second half, as early as the 48th minute, they did score but it was declared off-side. Al Rashedi, however, succeeded in adding to the tally in the 69thminute.
Pakistan made a few changes to the squad from their opening match of the tournament against hosts India, which they had also lost 4-0.
Although the team had to play only a few hours after landing in Bangalore, without any time to recover from their travel from Mauritius, they were given the grace and it was evident that they were too tired to play on June 21.
However, on Saturday, they were not much improved.
Pakistan had three shots on target, and only 32 percent of possession, compared to Kuwait’s seven shots.
Kuwait and India, who defeated Nepal 2-0 in the second match of Group A, were through to the semi-finals of the tournament.
India’s Sunil Chhetri scored his 91st goal in the national colours and expressed his satisfaction with the result, even though they were unable to score in the first half of the match.
Kuwait ended up at the top of Group A.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Football Federation Normalisation Committee (PFFNC) is also reaching the end of its mandate on June 30. However, according to reports, they have gotten an extension for another eight months extension from the Fifa Council.
A PFF NC member Shahid Khokhar said that the world body trusted them and there was hope for Pakistan football on the field and on the administrative front.
"Pakistan's football is slowly and gradually coming out of the crisis,” he told The Express Tribune. “The FIFA extension not only shows the trust of the international football family in the Normalisation process in Pakistan but also reflects the strong will of FIFA and Asian Football Confederation to bring the sport back on a democratic track.”
