KARACHI, Dec 10: Maldives may be flying high but Pakistan soccer captain Jaffar Khan and his team-mates are confident of winning against Indian Ocean islanders on Sunday, saying Zesh Rehman has been a real inspiration for the squad.

“We are confident that we will win against Maldives to be the group champions. Zesh is really a boost for our team. We are lucky to have him. We are learning a lot from his experience and skills since he is a professional footballer and comes from top class English soccer background,” Jaffar told Dawn.

The captain said while Rehman had been marshalling the defence, he had been equally a threat for the opponents while looking for a goal during corners.

“Zesh always communicates with us and keeps the defence on alert, while guiding the midfield too. It is this communication which is very vital and its pays dividend. We are really getting taste of professional football by playing along with Zesh.”

Jaffar suggested Pakistan team should have more professional players from abroad which would bolster the team. The keeper said since professional footballers trained from early age they could benefit Pakistan.

“Professional footballers start playing at age of eight or even early. They learn basic skills at early age and become top footballers. We need to have that kind of football structure to progress. We need training academies and schools.

“We can only have replacements if we have youth training programmes. Now the situation is if Jaffar Khan is injured it will become difficult to find good replacement.

“Similarly, if Essa is injured it becomes troublesome for us to find a substitute who could be as good as Essa. This problem could be overcome only if we have number of talented players. For that we need youth soccer.”

Promising striker Essa agreed with the captain and said the team had received a great boost by the presence of Rehman.

“His (Zesh) presence has made a tremendous difference, especially in defence. With Zesh in the defence, we are always confident that opposition can’t score. He is an inspiration for us. Being a professional, he knows what to do and how to react in different situations,” he said.

Essa, who poached the match-winner in Pakistan 1-0 win over minnows Afghanistan on Friday, was confident of a victory against Maldives.

Stopper Tanveer Ahmad and midfielder Adeel Ahmad were all praise for Rehman saying “obviously he is a very useful player for Pakistan and has strengthened the defence.”

Maldives coach Stoykov Iordan considers game against Pakistan a tough one, saying both sides will be battling to be top in their group.

“Pakistan are real good side. They will have crowd advantage while technically they are not bad.”

Meawnhile, Maldives manager Hiyaly Mohamed Rasheed said he had decided against lodging an official protest against poor refereeing in match against Sri Lanka.

“The match commissioner has already said it will be useless. So what’s the point in protesting,” the manager said.

“Sri Lankans don’t know anything about football because their football federation is being run by unprofessional people,” Iordan said.