Pakistan face 'big test' against Thailand in FIFA ASEAN Cup opener

Update, 27 September: Thailand won the match 4-0. Read the match report.

Pakistan open their campaign at the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup against Thailand on Saturday, and head coach Nolberto Solano sees the tournament as a rare chance to find out how his players compare with more established Asian sides.

The Group B, Division One match kicks off at 4pm local time (2pm Pakistan time) at the Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Indonesia. Pakistan then play the Philippines on September 29 and Vietnam on October 2.

A huge gap in the rankings

The size of the challenge is clear from the FIFA rankings. Thailand are 94th in the world, while Pakistan are 198th. The Philippines are ranked 135th and Vietnam 113th, so all three group opponents have considerably stronger recent records in Asian football.

“We want to use this opportunity to test ourselves against teams like Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam,” Solano said at Friday’s pre-match press conference. He described Asian football as getting “better and better” and said his team was “slowly growing”, taking things step by step.

Riding the momentum of a first title in decades

Pakistan arrive in Indonesia on the back of an encouraging summer. Solano’s side won the Diamond Jubilee International Football Tournament in the Maldives, going unbeaten in the four-team event. They drew 0-0 with Bangladesh, beat the Maldives 3-0 and Afghanistan 2-0 in the round-robin stage, then beat Afghanistan 2-0 again in the final, with goals from Shayek Dost and Harun Hamid.

It was Pakistan’s first standalone international tournament title in decades. Before that, their last final had come at the 1962 Merdeka Cup, and their last tournament win was a shared title at the Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament in 1952.

Thailand’s star power

Thailand, coached by Englishman Anthony Hudson, have named a strong squad. It includes veteran playmaker Chanathip Songkrasin, Japan-based midfielder Supachok Sarachat, English-born forward Jude Soonsup-Bell and Germany-based defender Nicholas Mickelson, alongside established domestic players such as Supachai Chaided of Buriram United and Peeradon Chamratsamee of Port FC.

Pakistan’s squad

Pakistan have named a 23-man squad mixing home-based players with footballers from abroad. Abdullah Iqbal captains the side, and experienced forward Kaleemullah has returned to the national team. Defender Easah Suliman, whose arrival was delayed by illness, was due to join the squad in Bandung.

One name to watch is teenage midfielder Abdul Samad, captain of Pakistan’s Under-17 team, who recently signed a two-year contract with Azerbaijani champions Qarabağ.

“It is a great opportunity for us to compete against teams at another level,” Abdullah said. “We will try to give our best.”

About the tournament

The FIFA ASEAN Cup is a new FIFA competition involving 14 teams: the 11 ASEAN member nations plus Bangladesh, Pakistan and Hong Kong, China as guests. Division One, being held in Indonesia, has eight teams in two groups. Group winners go through to the final, and the runners-up play for third place.

Pakistan’s first two group matches are in Bandung, with the final group game against Vietnam in Jakarta.

What to watch

Realistically, Pakistan will be underdogs in all three matches. But for a team that has spent years playing few competitive internationals, three matches against higher-ranked opposition offer valuable experience, and a chance to show whether the progress made in the Maldives can hold up against stronger teams. Solano’s aim, in his own words, is to see “how far we can go in this competition”.

The Indus Compass will report on all of Pakistan’s matches at the tournament.

Reporting draws on accounts published by Dawn.