Pakistan begin ASEAN Cup journey with Thailand test

Pakistan begin their FIFA ASEAN Cup journey with a Thailand outing on Saturday with head coach Nolberto Solano urging his players to use the tournament as a test against some of Asia’s stronger sides. The Group B match at Bandung’s Si Jalak Harupat Stadium kicks-off at 2pm PST and marks Pakistan’s first appearance in an official FIFA tournament. Pakistan will also face the Philippines on September 29 before completing their group campaign against Vietnam in Jakarta on October 2. “We want to use this opportunity to test ourselves against teams like Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam,” Solano told a pre-match news conference. “It’s an honour to be here and we know it will be a tough competition.” The Peruvian coach said Pakistan were taking a gradual approach as they look to develop as a national team. “We are slowly growing, we try to go step by step,” Solano said. “We will try to prove ourselves as a national team and see how far we can go in this competition.” Pakistan arrive after winning the Diamond Jubilee International Tournament in the Maldives in June, their first standalone football tournament title in 74 years. Captain Abdullah Iqbal said the tournament represented an opportunity for Pakistan’s players to measure themselves against higher-ranked oppositions. “It is a great opportunity for us to compete against teams at another level,” Abdullah said. “We will try to give our best.” Pakistan completed their preparations with an official training session on Friday, with Azerbaijan-based defender Easah Suliman joining the squad. Easah joined the squad late due to illness. Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) spokesman told this correspondent that it would be decided by Solano whether Easah should play or not. Squad: Yousuf Butt, Hassan Ali, Saqib Hanif, Abdullah Shah, Abdul Rahman, Ali Khan, Ali Agha, Hayyan Khattak, Ali Uzair, Alamgir Ghazi, Ali Raza, Abdul Samad Arshad, Kaleem Ullah, Shayek Dost, Abdullah Iqbal, Easah Suliman, Mohib Ullah, Mamoon Khan, Mohd Fazal, Haris Zeb, Umer Nawaz, Abdul Samad, Ali Khan