LAHORE: Coach Tariq Lutfi said on Thursday the national camp for the World Cup football qualifiers was being shifted from Lahore to Islamabad from Friday to give the squad some match practice after no international fixture could be finalised for the Pakistan side.
Talking to Dawn, Tariq said the national squad would leave for Islamabad on Friday after undergoing the last training session at the Model Town Ground here in the morning.
“As the Pakistan Football Federation’s (PFF) efforts to arrange a series against the UAE or Qatar could not succeed and some departmental teams are training in Islamabad for the upcoming Pakistan Premier League matches, we decided to shift [to Islamabad] to play some friendly matches,” Tariq stated.
Pakistan are scheduled to face Bangladesh in Bangladesh on June 29 in the first leg of the qualifiers. In return, Bangladesh will come to Pakistan for the second leg on July 3, to be held most probably in Lahore.
“The PFF is still trying to arrange a two-match series against Nepal before reaching Bangladesh but the situation is not yet clear in this regard,” Tariq remarked.
Tariq said his team had shaped well, hoping the players would deliver in the qualifiers.
However, had Pakistan featured in a few more international matches, they would have posed a tougher challenge for Bangladesh.
The PFF efforts to arrange a friendly series against India in England next month are also in the doldrums as the Indian government has not yet issued NOC to its football federation for the said contest.
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