KARACHI: Pakistan’s Serbian coach Zavisa Milosavljevic and Nepal’s Polish coach Jack Stefanowski will be under intense scrutiny as they lead their sides in their first of two international friendlies at the Dasharat Rangashala Stadium in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Milosavljevic hasn’t been impressive so far in his one-and-half year tenure as Pakistan coach while Stefanowski would be looking to make an impact on Nepali football fans in what will be his first match in-charge.

For the Serbian, the two games against Nepal followed by another couple of games against the Maldives are crucial if he is to stay on as Pakistan coach.

And Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) secretary Col Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi has stressed the need for improved performances.

“We need improved performances and improved results,” he told Dawn with Pakistan plummeting to 189th spot in the FIFA rankings. “We have a contract with Milosavljevic but if the results do not improve, we’ll have to look for other options.”

Milosavljevic has shown a tendency to opt for a more defensive approach in Pakistan’s recent matches and he has also been over-reliant on foreign-based players.

The statistics also do not show good reading.

Milosavljevic was in-charge of the team when they took on Nepal in their last competitive match at the 2011 SAFF Championship in India where they were overly defensive in a 1-1 draw.

Since then, Pakistan have played just one international friendly which was a 4-0 thrashing against Singapore.

Nepal, ranked 170th in the FIFA rankings, have been boosted by the appointment of Stefanowski who was handed the job earlier last month.

The 37-year-old boasts an impressive CV and is aiming to make “Nepal the best team in South Asia and improve their rankings.”

Stephanowski has been keen on introducing younger players into the Nepal set-up and according to Nepali football writer Bibek Sharma, the two games against Pakistan will show what philosophy he has for the team.

“It will be interesting to see what Stephanowski opts to play with but it will surely give an idea of his philosophy as Nepalese fans would be demanding wins against Pakistan,” Sharma wrote on a Nepalese football website.