Pakistan men’s football team head coach Stephen Constantine was visually furious at the post-match press conference of the encounter between Pakistan and Tajikistan. Earlier on the day, Pakistan suffered a humbling defeat from Tajikistan, when the Tajiks scored half a dozen goals against them.
Pakistan’s midfielder Rahis Nabi scored a consolatory goal in the 21st minute to give some hope to the Pakistani supporters, but his team conceded 4 further goals after his goal to lose the match 6-1.
Constantine punched the mic mid-presser through which he was talking to the room of reporters. He was furious with the performance of the team, even saying that the players made child-like errors. The crux of his statements was, ‘We were bad!’.
Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalization Committee (NC) Chairperson, Haroon Malik, however, conveyed that he was satisfied with the team’s performance. Malik elaborated that Japan has a 50-year strategy for the development of football in their country. Pakistan football stakeholders shouldn’t judge the 3-month performance of the team and feel dejected.
Tajikistan’s head coach, Peter Å egrt (talking about Mohib Afridi), said that he knew about Pakistan’s two suspended players. Which is why it was his strategy to attack from the left side where Pakistan were playing a new right-back.
Tajikistan’s forward Amadoni Kamolov, who received the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his 2 goals said a big thank you to the Pakistani nation, terming the welcome as the best hospitality he has ever received.
Pakistan’s next assignment is in March 2024, when they play Jordan home and away. Till then, Pakistan-based players have no professional league to play in.
