Hacked  By  r4dBlack

DHAKA: Former Austrian coach of Bangladesh George Kottan who guided the country to the lone SAFF title in 2003 has his own plans against the hosts and is firmly focussed on winning the title for Pakistan this time.
Kottan, who took over the charge of Pakistan a year ago, has worked hard to achieve his target by travelling around England and recruiting five England-based Pakistani players for his team.
Pakistan who have arrived in Dhaka from Doha Tuesday night played seven practice matches in the United Arab Emirate and Qatar as part of their preparation for the SAFF Championship. Kottan got a bit emotional as he spoke to the press saying that Bangladesh was his second home.
‘I really feel happy to be back in Bangladesh. I have many delightful memories of Dhaka, in fact of Bangladesh. It is like my second home and I remember the country very much,’ Kottan said.
Kottan said he started his camp on October 23 at Lahore and played a number of matches in and outside the country. ‘I tried to shape up my team with as much practice matches as possible. The team also went to Thailand. The results of such matches do not matter. But I tried to stress more on the combination and the strategy,’ he said.
Kottan said he tremendously missed Zeshan Rahman who had all the intentions to come but failed to get included in the squad because of his English club engagement. ‘Zesh was about to come but at the last moment he said his would not be available because of club engagements. I have, however, Amjad Iqbal who plays for Bradford City along with Atif Bashir, Shabir Khan, Adnan Farooq and Ries Ashraf who are England-based players. If Zesh were here, then I would call my defence the best in South Asia,’ Kottan said.
Kottan believed this Pakistan side was stronger than any other recent Pakistani side and would win the title. ‘They have worked hard and I believe we can win the title.’
Kottan avoided directly answering a question on the comparison of his team with the Bangladesh team that won the title in 2003. ‘It is not logical to compare two teams in a gap of six years. Many things have developed all these years. Many things have also changed.’
Kottan, however, said he had gathered information on Bangladesh football that would help him. ‘I know something of Bangladesh football and many of the players are known to me. I have my own plans against Bangladesh. I do not think it is necessary to reveal them now,’ said Kottan, who talked with the Bangladesh skipper Aminul in the hotel lobby.