Newcastle cult hero Nobby Solano appointed Pakistan football coach

Karachi: Pakistan’s embattled football federation has appointed former Newcastle United cult hero Nolberto ‘Nobby’ Solano as coach of their national teams to try to improve their dreadful record of never qualifying for a major tournament.

Solano, 50, who also played for Aston Villa and West Ham United in the English Premier League before retiring in 2012, was an assistant coach for his country Peru when they qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“We have hired the services of Solano with a hope that he will bring more energy and zest to the national players and lift our standings at the international level,” the Pakistan Football Federation president, Mohsen Gilani, said in a statement.

The cricket-obsessed nation has reached the second round of Asian qualifying for the FIFA World Cup only once.

Pakistan are 201st of 210 teams the in FIFA world men’s team rankings, and have sought to improve standards by inducting players of Pakistan heritage based in the UK.

Pakistan football has suffered badly from political parties fighting over control of the federation, which receives a large annual grant from world governing body FIFA.

The federation was for 10 years run by a FIFA-appointed committee and earlier this year briefly suspended for political interference ahead of elections in May.

FIFA in 2021 banned Pakistan from playing international matches for 15 months, also for political interference in the federation.

Solano’s first task will be with the under-23s men’s team, who are due to face Cambodia, Iraq and Oman in September in qualifying for the U23 Asian Cup next year.

Solano’s first matches in charge of the senior team will be a double-header against Afghanistan in 2027 Asian Cup qualifying in October.

Pakistan kicked off their campaign with a 2-0 away defeat to Syria in March and a 1-0 loss to Myanmar in Yangon last month.