- Pakistan suffered a heavy 6-0 defeat to Japan.
- Goalkeeper Salman-ul-Haq made two impressive saves.
- Palestine defeated Bahrain 1-0 in the other game in the same group.
Late Wednesday night, Pakistan had a disappointing start in their Group D opener of the 2024 Under-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers, suffering a heavy 6-0 defeat to Japan at the Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Stadium in Muharraq Club, Arad town, Bahrain.
Despite making two impressive saves, goalkeeper Salman-ul-Haq couldn’t prevent Japan from scoring their first goal in the 11th minute when Ryuya Nishio capitalized on a precise corner kick.
Japan extended their lead late in the first half, scoring twice within four minutes through Shunsuke Mito (43rd minute) and Mao Hosoya (45th+2 minute), giving them a comfortable lead as they entered halftime.
In the second half, Japan continued to exert pressure and further increased their lead, with goals from the penalty spot by Hosoya (51st minute) and captain Joel Chima Fujita in the 59th minute. Matching Hosoya’s contribution, Mito also secured his second goal with a strike in the 64th minute.
“Yes it was indeed a tough game as Japan were stronger. We hardly trained for two weeks,” Pakistan head coach Shehzad Anwar told The News from Bahrain.
“Japan were doing shuffling and it was indeed difficult for our defenders to tackle their strikers. If you are to handle such a team you need to play games with the sides which play like this. Vietnam and Korea also play like this,” Shehzad said.
However, he anticipated that his players will do well in their upcoming matches against Bahrain and Palestine.
“I am confident we will do much better against them,” Shehzad said.
Nasir Ismail, a former assistant coach for Pakistan, was similarly unhappy by the significant setback.
“Japan are a big team, no doubt, but Pakistan played a poor game. The defence did not seem organised, there was no proper marking with the strikers and if you give them room and allow the opposition to dominate the game for all 90 minutes then you will face such a result,” Nasir said.
“You played with nine players as the overseas just joined the side before the game.
“In front of Abdullah Iqbal goals were easily scored. The losing margin should have been smaller. Majority of the players have been with the unit for the last one year.”
Salman, a goaltender from Pakistan, was hurt while making a heroic effort.
The media found out that an MRI had been done. The report is unambiguous, yet he continues to experience rib pain. In the next game against Bahrain, Shehzad will have to choose a different goaltender if he is unable to recuperate. Palestine defeated Bahrain 1-0 in the other game in the same group.
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