By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan scored twice in stoppage time, one of them a spectacular overhead kick from Alamgir Ghazi, but still lost 3-2 to defending champions India in the opening match of the SAFF Championship at the National Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday.
Nolberto Solano’s side were three goals down at half-time and had wasted a penalty, before Najeebullah and Ghazi gave the closing minutes a tension the match had lacked since the opening half hour.
Najeebullah pulled one back in the second minute of added time, meeting a cross from Junaid Shah with a bullet header for his first international goal.
Two minutes later, Ghazi collected a pass from McKeal Abdullah with his back to goal, lifted the ball, swivelled and sent an overhead kick into the far corner.
Pakistan pushed forward in search of an equaliser, but India held on to take all three points from the Group B fixture.
It was a recovery that Pakistan could ill afford to need. India went ahead in the 14th minute when Mohammed Suhail delivered a low cross and Suhail Ahmad Bhat finished first time. Bhat doubled the lead six minutes later, sent through on goal and slotting calmly past goalkeeper Yousuf Butt.
Manglenthang Kipgen made it 3-0 two minutes past the half-hour. Noufal’s pass split the Pakistan defence, and Kipgen ran untracked before chipping the advancing Butt.
Pakistan had a chance to reduce the deficit soon afterwards when Abhishek Suryavanshi brought down Hayyaan Khattak inside the area. Shayek Dost blazed the resulting penalty over the crossbar, and India took their three-goal lead into the interval.
The result is all the more notable because India’s side was not their strongest. Several of their players are involved in the ongoing Indian Super League, and head coach Naushad Moosa said he had brought a young team to Dhaka because a squad led by senior national team coach Khalid Jamil was travelling to New Zealand for two friendlies.
Pakistan, who were also without several key players from last month’s FIFA ASEAN Cup, had their own problems. Solano, the former Newcastle United and Peru midfielder, made an early change, bringing on striker McKeal Abdullah for defender Waqar Ehtisham Baloch. At half-time Umar Nawaz and Muhammad Junaid replaced Syed Ali Raza and Ali Uzair Mahmood.
Injuries to left-back Abdul Rehman and Dost forced two further changes, with Junaid Shah and Najeebullah coming on. Pakistan saw more of the ball after the break but struggled to threaten until the closing stages. Najeebullah had come close late on after being set up by McKeal Abdullah, but India goalkeeper Arsh Anwer Shaikh kept his effort out.
Ghazi did not hide Pakistan’s disappointment with the first half. “The first half was not good. We could have scored [with the penalty]. We were better in the second, but we scored too late,” he said.
Asked why Pakistan had not trained on Wednesday, he said the team’s luggage had gone missing. “Our luggage was missing, that’s why we didn’t train,” he said with a smile.
Ghazi said Pakistan’s ambitions had not changed and pointed to the Maldives game as the one that mattered. “We must win the second game, because all the players will come in time for the semifinal. We want to beat Maldives,” he said.
Pakistan play Maldives on Sunday, November 8, at 2:30pm PKT in their final group match. Group B has only three teams, with the top two from each group going through to the semi-finals on November 14 and the final on November 17. Pakistan need a positive result to keep their place in the last four alive. India face Maldives on November 11.
Six teams are competing in this 15th edition of the tournament. India, ranked 138th in the world to Pakistan’s 197th, are chasing a record-extending tenth title. They won the last edition in 2023 by beating Kuwait in the final in Bengaluru, and had beaten Pakistan 4-0 earlier in that tournament, with Sunil Chhetri scoring a hat-trick.
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