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| January 11, 2003 | Saturday | Ziqa'ad 7, 1423 |
Pakistan shock holders India
Pakistan 1 India 0
Sri Lanka 1 Afghanistan 0
DHAKA (Bangladesh) Jan 10; Sarfaraz Rasool powered Pakistan to a 1-0 shock victory over favourites and defending champions India in the opening match of the South Asian Footbal Federation (SAFF) championship on Friday.
Sarfaraz capitalized on Qadeer Ahmed’s cross from right to score the winning goal in the 49th minute of the preliminary Pool A league match at Dhaka’s Bangabandhu National Stadium.
The win was Pakistan’s first against India since a 1-0 victory in the 1995 South Asian championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Pakistan rattled India with repeated attacks in the second half.
India’s veteran striker I.M. Vijayan got an opportunity to score the equalizer in the 70th minute when he received a lob from the midfield inside the penalty box. But he wasted the chance by shooting wide.
India was playing without four key players, including star striker Baichung Bhutia, who were sidelined from the tournament due to injuries.
The 10-day tournament features eight countries in the region: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan.
Later in the day Sri Lanka edged out a battling Afghanistan to a hard-fought 1-0 victory.
Afghanistan making debut in the comnpetition fought gamely but a Lincoln Stienwall goal in the 41st minute of the first half proved enough to give the Islanders maximum points.
There were no goals in the second half as Afghanistan defended well in depth and on counter-attacks had couple of chances to snatch equalizer and earn a valuable point.—APP/AP
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