Hasan Bashir, the Denmark based Pakistani forward, vowed to torment Bangladesh’s defence at today’s Saff Group ‘A’ match at the Armed Forces Ground in Kathmandu today.
The tall and muscular forward was looking forward to a fiercely competitive match. “It’s a battle of existence. You don’t know your destiny as the destination depends upon the India-Nepal also, I look forward to torment the Bangladesh defence and make sure Pakistan win it,” Bashir said.
Bashir is no stranger to hitting the back of the net in Nepal. His late goal guided Pakistan to a 1-0 victory over Nepal in their Fifa international friendly at the Dasarath Rangasala Stadium in Kathmandu last February. On Tuesday,a swirling Andan Ahmed free-kick from the right flank fell in Bashir’s path and he fired a low shot from the edge into the left corner past Nepal’s goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong.
The 26-year-old player, who made his international debut against Singapore last year, said that Pakistan had been “unlucky” in the ongoing tournament. “Against India we would have won but lost as we did not score the goals. Against Nepal we conceded the late goal but I must say that our goalkeeper was pushed by the Nepalese players when the ball was in the air. The refereeing was not good.
“I think Bangladesh have to score three goals and we also have to win like that. That will create some additional pressure and the match will be fiercely competitive. However, I will say to my teammates not to think about scoring goals and play their normal game,” said the forward.
Speaking about the India-Nepal match, Bashir hoped that Nepal would prevail. “A draw would favour both of them and I don’t know wherethey are in their mental frame but I think Nepal should play to win,” said the forward who plays for Middlefart in Denmark’s second division.