Pakistan, India AFC Cup tie today

LAHORE Pakistan have idea about Indian strengths. They were among top 16 teams of Asia during Qatars event last January. A big win is required for Pakistan football and the players are motivated to do that. All the boys are fit for the crucial showdown against arch rivals, said Pakistani coach Tariq Lutfi on the eve of Pakistan-India Group B match of the 4th AFC Challenge Cup qualifies at the MBJP Stadium, Petaling Jaya, it was learnt here on Tuesday. Tariq was coach when Pakistan outplayed India 3-0 at Lahore match six years ago. On Monday, the Central Asians Turkmenistan had win over luckless Pakistanis. Didarklych Urazov made their intentions clear in the sixth minute with a clinical finish while Arslanmyrat Amanov made it 2-0 a minute into the restart. Mamedaly Karadanov netted their third four minutes before time. India blanked Chinese Taipei with same 3-0 scoreline. Jeje Lalpekhlua drew the first blood for Robert Houghtons charges two minutes after the half hour mark and former Kansas City Wizards striker Sunil Chhetri doubled the advantage in the 76th minute. Substitute Jewel Raja Shaikh made it 3-0 two minutes before the final whistle. Turkmenistan coach Yazguly Hojageldiyev was pleased with win but complained of heat and humidity. Though we gained full three points, but our performance was marred by the heat. This reminded me of the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup finals in Colombo. We had a training camp in Turkey where the weather was totally different from Malaysia, Turkmenistan coach said.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt