KARACHI, Dec 12: Bangladesh soccer coach Diego Andres Cruciani on Monday rated Pakistan as tough SAFF championship semifinal opponents, saying their defence had been the strongest point with Zesh Rehman in the ranks.

“Pakistan are very good side. They are well organized and make neat moves. But I consider their defence as their strongest point, although they are equally good in the attack,” the Argentine told Dawn.

“Pakistanis are balanced side. They can perform well in the defence as well as in the attack. They are good in defence, midfield and recovery. At the moment my side is not that composed,” said the coach said.

Cruciani said Pakistan coach Salman Ahmed Sharida had been relying on attacks and mapped out good plans against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. But the coach felt that Pakistan may not be going all out against his side on Wednesday.

“I am happy to draw 1-1 against India. Not I am looking forward to playing Pakistan and that won’t be an easy game for us,” said the coach who took over from Austrian George Kottan under whom Bangladesh won the title in 2003.

Pakistan will also play Bangladesh on Dec 22 in Dhaka in Asia Cup qualifiers before meeting them again on Dec 26 at home. The venue of the home match will be decided later.

Pakistan will be missing key player Imran Hussain who received his second yellow card in the tournament against Afghanistan.

Indian coach Syed Nayeemuddin complained about the standard of refereeing, saying “that red card to my player was too harsh.”

“It should not have been a red card. Mehraj just banged the ball on the ground in frustration and was red carded for that. I think that decision was bit harsh. We respect the referee, and the referee should also respect the players.”

Nayeem, however, said he was expecting a victory against Bangladesh and absence of Mehraj Uddin made a big difference.

“Apart from the red card, we were having some fitness problems as Venkatesh is down with fever but still played, while Syed Rahim Nabi was also having some problems,” he said at the post-match press conference.