February 15, 2007	Thursday	Muharram 26, 1428

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

LAHORE, Feb 14: Pakistan broke sweat to overcome a spirited nine-men Singapore 3-2 thanks to two red cards to visitors and an own-goal in the Olympic qualifying round home soccer match on a wet and slippery Punjab Stadium pitch on Thursday.

The victory also saw Pakistan qualifying for the second round where they play Asian giants Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait on home and away basis from February to June. Pakistan have already won the away fixture 2-1 against Singapore. Since Singapore are a lowly-rated side as compared to Qatar, Kuwait Bahrain, second round will be Pakistan’s real test.

While Mohammad Rasool was Pakistan’s hero with a match-winner in the second half, Yusiskandar Yusop became the villain for Singapore as he gifted hosts a second half own goal.

The two red cards to touring party also helped Pakistan score a narrow margin win. It was midfielder Hariss Harun who first received marching orders by Qatari referee Abdulrehman Abdou in the 43rd minute then defender Zulfadli Zainal received red card in the 84th minute.

Although Pakistan dominated in the first 25 minutes of the game but missed several sitters. After wasting a first minute corner, Pakistan defender Haji Mohammad received yellow card in the 6th minute. As Pakistan captain Zahid Hameed kick was well stopped by Singapore goalkeeper Hyrulnizam Juma'at, Imran Niazi and Rasool missed open chances.

Since torrential rains in the city had left some parts of the pitch soggy, Singapore's goalie fell on the ground while thwarting an attack. Imran and Rasool both attempted to fire the loose ball home but also fell because of slippery pitch.

While Pakistan wasted chances, Singapore broke the ice with an opportunist strike in the 31st minute through skipper Khairul Amri who slotted home a Shaiful Shafi's free-kick leaving Pakistan goalkeeper Mahmood Ahmad stunned.

Pakistan missed another attempt from Imran, but Amri shocked the home side with a swinging free-kick to score another spectacular goal scored just eight minutes later.

Although winners led the first half, they faced a set back when Harun was red-carded a minute before halftime whistle.

While Pakistan couldn’t take any advantage of Harun’s absence, a defensive blunder in the 65th minute by Yusop resulted in an own-goal, reducing the margin for the Pakistanis.

Instead of taking advantage of the favourable situation, Pakistan kept on missing chances through Imran and Abdul Aziz in the 70th and 72nd minute. Finally Pakistan equalised in the 76th minute through substitute Farooq Shah who banged home off a Rasool pass.

The visitors were reduced to just nine players in the 84th minute when Zainal received a red card for a deliberate foul on Aziz. It was only then that Pakistan were able to score the match-winner. Rasool’s 25-yard long shot from the left gave Singapore goalie no chance.Teams:

Pakistan: Mahmood Ahmad (goalkeeper), Ghulam Nabi, Mohammad Shahid, Abbas Ali, Haji Mohammad, Samar Ishaq, Imran Niazi, Mohammad Imran, Yasir Afridi. Zahid Hameed (captain), Mubashir Hussain, Abdul Aziz, Farooq Shah, Mohammad Waseem, Jaffar Ali, Nasr Ullah Khan, Mohammad Rasool, Abid Khan, Mubashir Shajrani, Faheem Riaz.

Singapore: Hyrulnizam Juma'at (goalkeeper), Mohd Zakaria Normat, Chan Yu Hui, Kairuldin bin Isak, Mohd Shaiful bin Esah Nain, Hamqamal Shah bin Hamzah, Suhaimi bin Ramri, Yususinkandar bin Yusuf, Mohd. Farid bin Samsudin, Noor Ikhsan bin Razali, Naufal bin Omar Ashibie, Shahdan bin Sulaiman, Syed Taha Ahmad, Zulfadli bin Zainal Abidin, Hairas bin Hanur, Shukor bin Zailan, Muhammad Saiful bin Anuar, Ridiwan bin Jamaludin, Mohamad Faizal bin Osman Alkhatib, Guntur bin Djafril, Zaiful Nizam bin Abdullah, Heng Fu Sheng Marcus.