FIFA Asian World Cup Qualifier: Pakistan vs Cambodia

 

In a game that had fans on the edge of their seats, Pakistan and Cambodia faced off in a FIFA Asian World Cup qualifiers match that will be etched in football history. It was a story of passion, perseverance, and the pursuit of a World Cup dream. The game consists of 2 legs i.e., home leg and away leg. Cambodia hosted Pakistan for its home leg on Thursday, 12^th October in Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium. The lineups of Pakistan were as follow:

P.C. Pakistan Football Federation

Considering the current form of Pakistan football team, it looked quite difficult for Pakistan to win the match in the home conditions of Cambodia. Easah Sulaiman was leader of side and Stephen Constantine newly appointed coach/manager of the side. Pakistan fans hoped that team will perform well and keep the heads high.  The kick off time for the match was 1.20 am. Before half time at 27’ both Pakistan’s striker#9 Muhammad Waheed and Cambodia’s defender#14 Choun Chanchav received a yellow card and score till half time remained 0-0.

During the second half of the match Pakistan team started to play attacking football and created some chances but was not able to score on the other side of coin defender of Cambodia’s team were top notch as they did not allow Pakistan attackers to score a single goal.

Pakistan’s defender#15 Syed Junaid Ahmed Shah received a yellow card in 87’ but both teams were not able to score a goal courtesy of some brilliant defending from both sides when required. Pakistan played very well considering a new side playing after a long time because of FIFA ban and drawing a match against a better team like Cambodia is a big ask and Pakistani fans and management looked very confident for leg 2 which was scheduled on 17^th October 2023 in Jinnah Sports Stadium, Pakistan.

Too see line up for leg 2 please click on the following URL.

 

https://rb.gy/pjybpw

Pakistani fans showed in numbers to support their home team. It was a big opportunity for Pakistan to win the match as crowd was really on their toes to support the team. In the fist half of the leg 2 Pakistan looked a bit nervous as they easily gave their possession away, passing was awful, discipline was ridiculous as two Pakistani Midfielders #8 and #18 received yellow card in 19’ and 39’ respectively. In the first half of the match Cambodia team kept pressure in Pakistan as they didn’t allow as much box penetrations as Pakistan would have liked.

After half time it seemed that manager changed their defending strategy to attacking. With some quick substitution Pakistan seemed to be a better side. In 68’ with the assist of F. Ullah Khan, Harun Hamid scored a marvelous goal by putting ball in Bottom right corner of the goal and with this goal Pakistan was 1-0 up and all Pakistan need is to defend well for remaining 28’. Pakistan did it quite brilliantly as Pakistan was able to finish on the winning side and qualify for the Round 2 of AFC FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for the very first time in the History of Pakistan football.

Overall Pakistan played very good and improved game as they attacked more than defending and it was not  expected that Pakistan will win but Pakistan outclassed the better ranked side and qualified for round 2 and was placed in Group G with Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Jordan. The final groups for round 2 are as follow.

P.C. AFC ASIAN CUP

Pakistan will play its first match of round 2 against Saudi Arabia in Abdullah AL Dabil Stadium, Saudi Arabia on 16^th November 2023 at 9.30 PST.