KARACHI: Pakistan football team will be desperately looking for a fine start when they will meet Chinese Taipei today (Saturday) in their opening match of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup Qualifiers Group D at the Sugathadasa Sports Complex in Colombo.
The match will start at 6:30pm under floodlights. In the first tie of the group the 1995 SAFF Championship winners Sri Lanka will take on Brunei Darussalaam at 4:00pm at the same venue.
The first match between Pakistan and Chinese Taipei took place way back on May25, 1958 during the 3rd Asian Games when Taiwan, representing China, brought off 3-1 win at Tokyo. Taipei's Chungshan Stadium hosted the second-ever match between the two nations last year in the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers which after a tough battle Pakistan eventually won it by 2-1.
After a dismal performance of the Greenshirts for the last couple of years at international level, the triumph in the round will be a morale booster for the George Kottan s team. This is the second trip of the Pakistan team under Kottan, who took charge of the side in late February this year after his serviced were hired by the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) for one year.
Though Pakistan had failed to reach the semifinals of the Prime Minister s Cup held in Nepal from 5th to 15th last month but the triumph in the current AFC Challenge Cup is very important for the team which is also having the support of the two England based footballers defender Atif Bashir and midfielder Adnan Farooq Ahmad, who according to the coach George Kottan are having enormous potential. One team each from the four groups and the best runners-up will proceed to the final round which will also carry the defending champions India, Kazakhstan and DPR Korea, who are given direct entry.
