Pakistan Football team Head Coach Stephen Constantine confirmed on Saturday in a press briefing that around seven Diaspora players can join the team ahead of the clash against Jordan in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Round 2.
Stephen emphasized the importance of the league in the country and reiterated that Pakistan is the only country in the world that does not have a football league.
Speaking to the media in Lahore, Stephen said, “The Diaspora players will join the team by Sunday or Monday, we will have 6 or 7 of them, we will have to see the condition that they come in and whether they are free from injury or not.”
On the question of whether the overseas players can make a difference against Jordan in the all-important clash or not, the Pakistan head coach said, “Diaspora players can’t be the solution to all of our problems. We had seven diaspora players against Tajikistan and we still lost badly.”
Pakistan Football Federation was supposed to organize a 20-day training camp in Saudi Arabia, in January but that did not materialize due to lack of funding from FIFA.
“We were supposed to have a camp in January but that didn’t materialize. There were also no friendlies. Unfortunately, we will face one of the best teams in Asia (Jordan) with very little preparation.” remarked Stephen.
The head coach clarified that the Pakistan football team is currently not in good shape and it will take a long time to qualify for the World Cup, as the team is building right now after the FIFA ban which was lifted in 2022.
“Pakistan won’t qualify for the next FIFA World Cup. We won’t find talent if there is no proper domestic league. 6-7 players are currently playing in foreign leagues and they will join the squad soon for the Jordan clash.”
Constantine has massive coaching experience in Rwanda and India and both of those countries have a well-established league. He also helped India achieve a FIFA rank of 97 in 2018 and lifted the Blue Tigers to new heights from a ranking of 173 in three years.
“You have 32 teams in the National Challenge Cup, take 16 teams out of that cup and start a league, because without a league the players cannot develop,” Stephen said.
“Someone told me there are 5000 teams registered here. We don’t have 5000 teams registered in the whole of United Kingdom”, “Where will I see the talent if there are no games?” he continued.
In response to the question of whether the Pakistan team can stop the Jordan football team as they did against Iraq in 2007 with a stalemate 0-0 draw, Constantine asked a counter question of whether Pakistan had a league in 2007 or not.
“Did you have a league in 2007 when you played Iraq”?? Stephen Constantine asked the journalist to which he responded in a yes.
To this, the former manager of India replied, “Well there is your answer.”
The English manager was appointed as head coach of Pakistan on September 30, 2023, and created history by helping Pakistan get past Round 1 of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Cambodia for the first time in 76 years of Independence.
Pakistan will face Jordan on March 21 at the Jinnah Stadium at 2 pm in the group stage game of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Round 2.
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