April 25, 2002	Thursday	Safar 11, 1423

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KARACHI, April 24: Hosts Pakistan face Maldives in the Under-20 Asian football championship group V qualifiers which kicks off at the People’s Sports Complex Thursday at 6.00p.m.

The home side will face stiff resistance when they tackle favourites Bangladesh and Sri Lanka later in the competition.

The two teams have not met before at this level but Pakistan have beaten Maldives twice in under-19 competitions, scoring seven goals and conceding just one.

The under-20 four-team contest, a Asian Football Confederation (AFC) event, is the inaugural tournament. The event was previously the under-19 Asian championship the first edition of which was played in 1959.

The 11 teams will have the honour of playing the main round from Oct 15 in Qatar. Four top sides in Qatar will qualify for the Junior World Cup in the United Arab Emirates next year with Argentina defending their title.

But for Pakistan coach, John Layton, on paper, the Maldivians may look like an easy opponents, they could pose threat to his side which he said had little time to prepare.

“It is true that Pakistan had fared well against Maldives in the past under-19 matches. But now things have changed since Maldives are also being helped by FIFA to promote the sport,” the Englishman said.

Layton said like the Sri Lankans and the Bangladeshis, the Maldivians also had an excellent league system. However, he avoided to predict the outcome of Thursday’s match because he had never seen Maldives in action.

The Briton said barring injured defender Sohail Nawaz, nursing a hamstring injury, the remaining players were physically fit.

“Sohail is not my worry as he may not be in the final 11,” the coach said.

Pakistan juniors have been performing better as compared to the seniors and under-19 side caught the attention of the fans storming into the main round of the U-19 Asian championship hosted by Iran. Pakistan had beaten India 2-0 and hosts Sri Lanka 1-0 in the qualifiers in 2000.

Like Layton, his Maldivian counterpart, Mohamed Athif, also had reservations when asked about Thursday’s game.

“I can’t say anything for sure about Pakistan as I have not seen them play before. But I will like my boys to go all out against the hosts,” the Maldivian coach said.

The coach did not reveal his team’s weak points but considered skill, stamina and speed, as the stronger points of his team.

“All the boys are fighting fit. It is difficult to talk about the deficiencies of the team before the game but skill and speed are the main weapons,” Athif said.

Unlike Layton, a confident Pakistan skipper, Ashfaq Ahmad, was hopeful and felt though the players did not have sufficient time to train, the team would once again reach the main round.

“We did not have enough time to prepare, but I hope that boys will try their best and the team will once again qualify for the main round,” Ashfaq who skippered the team two years back at the qualifiers, said.

The lanky defender said cash incentives also motivated the players in Colombo. “The team members were awarded Rs25,000 after we qualified for the final round in 2000. And we edged the UAE out 2-1 in the main round after it was announced that each player will get Rs100,000 if we win the tournament,” he added.

Tickets are priced at Rs10 and Rs15 for the tournament and the organizers expect sizeable crowds to witness the matches each day

Meanwhile the game of soccer once again became loser as Pakistan Television (PTV) will not be able to cover the qualifiers.

According to a PTV official there were technical reasons for not showing the event live.

Thursday’s fixtures: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka 3.30pm; Pakistan v Maldives 6.00pm.