Despite Pakistan’s historic victory over Cambodia, which saw the team qualify for the second round of FIFA World Cup qualifying for the first time ever, the Pakistan Football Federation’s Normalisation Committee has decided to release coach Stephen Constantine.
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According to a senior member of the committee set up by the sport’s governing body to manage football matters in the country, Constantine had been appointed on a provisional basis for the home and away games against Cambodia.
“He has done a wonderful job but his contract was short-term. He was hired to help us beat Cambodia and end our losing streak, and he has done that,” the official said.
The official did not rule out the possibility of rehiring Constantine in the future.
“Yes, definitely, we want him back because he has done a brilliant job with the team. But it will depend on his availability and financial terms,” he said on the topic.
After a period of uncertainty in Pakistan football, Constantine was appointed earlier this month. He barely had any time left to prepare the team for the World Cup qualifying matches against Cambodia. The team had never won a FIFA World Cup qualifying match before and had a dismal record in the qualifiers. The team had managed to score one goal and conceded 18 in their last eight fixtures.
Constantine came in and immediately made an impact. He drew 0-0 in the away fixture against Cambodia. He also helped Pakistan notch up their first win in the home fixture. The win helped Pakistan qualify to the second round of the World Cup qualifiers.
The PFF official expressed his desire to hire Constantine again if Pakistan reaches the third round of the qualifiers. He also said it would depend on logistics, financial terms that the coach wants.
It will be interesting to see if Pakistan can carry forward this new-found momentum in the second round of WC qualifiers. Or will Constantine’s absence hurt the team in the upcoming matches?