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Pakistan-India football series in August finalised
KARACHI: Pakistan football team will play a couple of matches against India in the third week of August in Bangalore as both the countries have finalised the schedule of the much-awaited series which will be held after nine long years.
“Yes, the schedule has been finalised and the two tests will be held at Bangalore on August 17 and 20,” Pakistan Football Federation’s (PFF) secretary Col Ahmed Yar Lodhi told ‘The News’ from Lahore on Thursday.
Pakistan wanted to play a three-match series but India agreed for only two showdowns.
It was in 2005 that the two teams last played against each other. The three-match series in Pakistan in June 2005 was won by the hosts on goal-average.
The first game held in Quetta ended in a 1-1 draw. In the second show, India beat Pakistan 1-0 in Peshawar. However, Pakistan came back strongly and crushed the visitors 3-0 in the third meeting in Lahore to make it 1-1.
The matches this year will be held in daylight. “There is no floodlight at the venue, which is why the encounters will be held at 3:30pm local time,” Lodhi said.
He also confirmed that the series would be held on artificial turf.
Bangalore Football Stadium is located at the Magrath Road and is owned by the Karnataka State Football Association. It has a capacity for around 40,000 spectators.
Soon after the series against their traditional rivals, Pakistan will fly to Bahrain for a one-off test against the hosts, likely to be held on August 24.
“Our game against Bahrain was confirmed for August 20, but due to India series we will now reschedule it,” Lodhi revealed.
The SAFF Cup champions Afghanistan are also interested in playing against Pakistan in Pakistan but so far they have not taken any concrete step in this respect. “No, they have not yet confirmed anything,” Lodhi said.
A few days ago, the PFF chief Faisal Saleh Hayat told this correspondent in an interview that they were also in contact with Malaysia and Singapore in a bid to provide ample exposure to the national brigade.
The basic purpose of the foreign tours is to prepare a fighting lot for the Asian Games which will be held in Incheon, South Korea, from September 19 to October 4.
Pakistan team camp, carrying 33 probable players, is currently in operation in Lahore under the supervision of coach Mohammed Shamlan.
The camp is likely to be disbanded on June 15 and the players will then leave for their homes to spend Ramadan at their homes.
They will re-assemble in the Punjab capital after Eid-ul-Fitr, ahead of their international assignments. “The camp will be resumed immediately after Eid,” Lodhi said.