Pakistan women lose 1-0 to Mauritania in FIFA Series

ABIDJAN: Pakistan women’s national team went down 1-0 to Mauritania in the FIFA Series on Sunday, three days after registering their biggest-ever win, but the result still leaves Adeel Rizki’s side in the running ahead of their final group-stage match against hosts Ivory Coast.

Coming into the game after an 8-0 victory over the Turks and Caicos Islands on Thursday, Pakistan created a number of openings at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium. However, they were unable to make those chances count, while a first-half strike from Ramata Gengui proved enough for Mauritania, who had themselves suffered an 8-0 defeat to Ivory Coast in their previous outing.

Pakistan’s first notable chance came in the 13th minute when Nadia Khan, who became the team’s all-time leading scorer in the previous match, got an opportunity after the ball broke kindly for her, but her effort was directed straight at the goalkeeper.

Mauritania took the lead in the 20th minute. Gengui met a cross from the left with a volley from outside the penalty area and sent the ball into the bottom corner, giving goalkeeper Zeeyana Jivraj no chance.

Pakistan looked to respond quickly and nearly did so in the 23rd minute when a defensive error allowed Mariam Mahmood a close-range effort, but the Mauritanian goalkeeper kept it out. Later in the first half, Kayla Siddiqui sent a free-kick attempt wide as Pakistan continued to search for an equaliser.

At the break, head coach Adeel made two substitutions, bringing on Karissa Jivraj and Anmol Hira in place of Rameen Fareed and Sanah Mehdi. The changes added impetus to Pakistan’s attack in the second half.

Aqsa Mushtaq was involved in several opportunities after the restart, with her best effort a dipping shot from outside the area that Mauritania goalkeeper Aissata Fall pushed over the bar. At the other end, Zeeyana Jivraj made an important save to deny Tacko Diabira as Pakistan pressed forward.

Pakistan continued to create chances late in the match. Mariam Mahmood had another opening in the 82nd minute but could not convert. Soon afterwards, Isra Khan struck the side netting with a first-time volley, and Kayla Siddiqui then played a through ball that Mariam again failed to finish.

During eight minutes of added time, Pakistan kept up the pressure and Aqsa tested the goalkeeper from a late free-kick, but the equaliser did not come.

Adeel points to missed chances and overconfidence

After the match, Adeel Rizki said his side had been made to pay for not being clinical in front of goal.

“The game started off very slow and we slowly grew into the game,” Adeel said after the match. “We had a number of chances but we weren’t able to convert them. The composure in front of the goal wasn’t there. That’s something we tried working on throughout the camp but again on the given day we weren’t able to finish [the chances].”

He also said the team may have carried some overconfidence into the game after the emphatic win in their opening fixture.

“I think there was some element of being overconfident,” he said. “They arrived in our box once and they scored and we had almost six, seven chances of our own but we never availed them. They shot either straight to the goalkeeper or wide of the target. That’s what football is, we have to deal with it and move on and look forward to our next match.”

Adeel said Pakistan were not consistent enough defensively in the first half, although he felt they improved after the interval. He also highlighted the physical strength of the Mauritania side.

“Defensively we weren’t up to the mark in the first half but we were a lot better in the second, and I think that’s something we need to work on, to be more consistent throughout the game,” he said. “The girls worked really hard but I think the physicality of the Mauritania players was much stronger compared to us and that’s another aspect we need to work on.”

The Pakistan coach also referred to the difference in ranking between the two teams and said Mauritania had several players attached to high-level clubs in Europe.

“Mauritania is a higher ranked team [than Pakistan]. They have a lot of players playing in different high level clubs across Europe and we try to have to match that,” he said.

Looking ahead to Thursday’s match against Ivory Coast, Adeel said the team would review the errors from Sunday’s defeat.

“We need to analyse the game and revisit what our mistakes were and avoid them against Ivory Coast in our next match.”