October 2 – Pakistan have turned to globetrotting coach Stephen Constantine to help the team win their first-ever World Cup qualifier.
In a fortnight, the Pakistanis, whose FA (PFF) has long been the subject of infighting and is led by a normalisation committee, take on Cambodia on the road to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, and the Englishman has been tasked with delivering something Pakistan has never achieved – a victory in World Cup qualifying.
In a short statement, the PFF NC did not disclose the length of Constantine’s contract, but simply that he had “agreed to join the PFF with a singular focus for now – to win qualifiers against Cambodia”.
The Shaheens will travel to Cambodia for the first leg on October 12 before hosting their opponents on October 17.
The Englishman is already in Pakistan to oversee a training camp ahead of the October fixtures.
Constantine is known as a journeyman, having coached in Malawi, Sudan and Rwanda among others. He has had two spells as manager of India, but resigned in 2019 after their Asian Cup elimination. In the last few years, he managed Kolkata’s East Bengal and Pafos in Cyprus.
In 2021, FIFA extended the mandate of the normalisation committee to run the PFF on a daily basis because the requirements for lifting Pakistan’s suspension had not yet been met.
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