LAHORE – New head coach of Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) football team Tariq Lutfi has played down his team’s ‘favorites’ tag, insisting he will only be able to assess his side’s chances after their opener in Group B of the 21st NBP Football Cup.
KRL will be aiming to compete a hat-trick of triumphs after golds at Hyderabad 2009 and Multan 2010. The NBP Cup will run from April 14 to27 at Faisalabad’s Bohranwali Ground and PMC Ground.Pakistan’s No 2 team KRL are placed in a group that also features Habib Bank Limited, Pakistan Air Force and newcomers Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited.
While some are predicting a straight forward run to the quarter-finals, Lutfi believes that his side face a level playing field. Lutfi believes that PAF and HBL cannot be under-estimated, while ZTBL also have a tough keeper in Saqib Hanif. “Perhaps we are in a not so difficult group, but a match is a match and we still have to go out there and get a favorable result,” said Lutfi.
“Our first target is to do well in out group and for that we shall try our best. We have very little knowledge about the newly-formed ZTBL in our group,” he added. “We would have to take it as it comes, see how the players perform and hopefully I can pick the right players and make the necessary changes as the game progresses,” he said.
“We have had some problems on the tactical side but not with team spirit. We have to score as many goals as possible and progress to final,” he said.
