ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s head coach Nolberto Solano expressed optimism ahead of the AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Myanmar, scheduled to be played here at the Pakistan Sports Complex on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, the former Peru international said preparations had gone well despite the challenges facing football in the country.

“Preparation has been good. These boys are really exciting, really humble, easy to work with. They want to learn, they want to do well,” Solano said.

“Despite all the issues around football in Pakistan, they remain positive. They are looking forward to getting a good result against Myanmar — because that will keep our confidence going. We are building a strong squad for the future.”

The coach said his plan was to give local players the opportunity to prove themselves at the international level.

“Of course, I know the diaspora players very well by now. But I want these local boys to understand how important it is to look after themselves — whatever the system here, not playing professionally every weekend, they still need to prepare themselves,” the former Newcastle United midfielder said.

“The idea is to build that — to introduce more players into the national team setup. I know Abdullah, I know Otis, all the diaspora players, what they can do. But these local boys also need to be given that chance.”

Solano acknowledged the quality of the opposition, noting that Myanmar recently faced a difficult result against Afghanistan, where they triumphed 2-1.

“Myanmar are a very good team — they just had a difficult result at home against Afghanistan a few days ago. But we are always preparing,” he said.

The coach emphasised that the match forms part of a longer-term strategy, with no official competition scheduled for Pakistan until 2027.

“It is always really exciting when fixtures like this arrive. We are looking forward to the match. As usual, it will be a very difficult match — Myanmar showed a very good result just a few days ago. But yes, we are prepared, and we continue our preparation,” Solano said.

“We have a plan for this year. That is the reason you can see a lot of local boys here — we have the opportunity to show this nation what they can do, because they have a lot of quality.”

He added: “We have a plan for Pakistan, and as everyone knows, we do not have an official competition until 2027. This year is about giving chances to different players, seeing how they respond at national team level.”

When asked about the absence of Shayek Dost, Solano explained the decision was related to injury and a desire to assess other players.

“The plan for this match was also to look at other opportunities, other players. I know Shayek very well — he has been doing well for us. But unfortunately, due to injury, we had to call him in at the last minute. Samad had to leave. I told him he just needs to recover,” Solano said.

“I know he is very disappointed to miss the match — but it is part of the game, it is football. The message to all players is: always be ready. The national team journey is a very long one — when you start qualifying games, it takes two years. Everybody has to be ready, everybody has to be available. Even when you are not in the training camp, keep working. Every Pakistan player will have the chance to represent their country if they keep doing well. [Samad] will have the opportunity to come back.”

Responding to a query about FIFA’s support, Solano pointed to the long-term impact of Pakistan’s absence from international football.

“There is a big gap here, unfortunately. These young lads, this generation, missed out for a long time because of the unfortunate situations Pakistan had to deal with — being out of the FIFA system for around ten years. That is a lot,” he said. “On identity — we always try to be a very well-organised, very strong team.

“I have told the boys: they have the talent, they have the freedom in the match to do what they feel and what they can see. But more importantly, we have to build a very strong mentality. Right now, every team that comes here thinks they are coming for three points. No. The more important thing is building that mentality — Pakistan needs to start being very competitive.”

He added: “It is difficult to build a football identity in the national team setup because these players come from different places, different coaches. So in the national team, the most important thing is to build a very good family unit — strong, hard to beat, getting results.

“I do not have these players every day like a football club. But they need to start building an identity — to be a strong, hard team to play against. That is the foundation.”

Regarding the decision to hold the match behind closed doors, Solano said the team would respect the government’s austerity measure.

“We will not have the public tomorrow, it would have been great for the players and for everyone. The atmosphere with fans is always fantastic — every footballer will tell you, we all enjoy having our supporters there,” he said. “But we have to respect the decision. We hope that in the next games, we can have a full stadium.”

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2026