KARACHI: The sudden inclusion of Denmark-based striker Mohammad Ali into the Pakistan team for the first leg of their first-round 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Yemen on Thursday has led to rifts within the national team, Dawn has reliably learnt.

Ali, who plays for Danish second-division side Svebolle, played the first half of Pakistan’s 3-1 defeat in the match in Doha before being replaced by Mohammad Adil six minutes into the start of the second.

Mohammad Al Shamlan started with Ali, who came into the team after a space of more than 18 months, and that has led to members of the team questioning his selection as he failed to combine up front with Kaleemullah and captain Hassan Bashir.

“The players are not happy with him being included straight into the team with those who have been playing regularly being made to sit on the bench,” sources within the team told Dawn on Saturday.

“They feel that his presence disturbed the tempo of the team as he couldn’t gel with the players and didn’t help the midfield either.”

There were also rumours that Hassan, a team-mate of Ali at Svebolle, pushed for the striker’s inclusion. Hassan was handed captaincy of the team ahead of Kaleem after first-choice Zesh Rehman wasn’t released by his Malaysian club Pahang FA.

“It doesn’t help really if a coach prefers a player who hasn’t been with the team for a long time,” the sources added. “But in the end its the coach who decides.”

Ali, initially started on the wing — a place where Adil and Mansoor Khan have been playing for Pakistan in the last few years — but drifted ahead for most of the match, joining Kaleem and Hassan up top.

The width that Shamlan had initially hoped for he would provide then resulted in Pakistan being too heavy in the centre and there wasn’t much off-the-ball movement amongst the three strikers who weren’t used to playing in that system.

However, sources added, the team was keen on turning the tie around in the return match at the Punjab Stadium in Lahore on Tuesday.

Pakistan, who have never won a World Cup qualifying match in their history, need at least 2-0 win to progress to the second round of qualifying which doubles up as qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup in 2019.

“What has happened has happened and cannot be changed. But we expect Shamlan to use better tactics in the second game and the players are keen on creating history.”

Published in Dawn March 15th , 2015

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