PORT LOUIS: When Mauritius turned on the style, Pakistan were left looking on as bystanders.

After a goalless first half, Mauritius scored three goals in the space of 18 minutes on Sunday against Pakistan for a 3-0 win in the opener of the Four Nation Cup, which also features Kenya and Djibouti.

Without defenders Eas­ah Suliman and Abdullah Iqbal, Pakistan were carved open by the hosts with ease with their goal living a charmed life until Villeneuve Jeremy Robert scored with a scorching drive in the 53rd.

It opened the floodgates with Ashley Nazira doubling the lead from inside the box ten minutes later before Mamoon Moosa inad­v­ertently turned in a cross from the right in the 71st.

That ended the scoring in a game where Paki­stan’s defence and midfield, despite the presence of British-based Otis Khan — who was making his debut — and Rahis Nabi as well as Denmark-based Adnan Mohammad, were undone by Maur­itius’ high press.

Pakistan’s next game at the round-robin tournament is up against Kenya on Wednesday, where they will be counting on Easah and Abdullah to shore up the defence.

Portugal-based Easah, the former England Under-20 centre-back, rec­e­ntly joined the Pakistan roster and is due to link up with the team on Monday.

Abdullah, meanwhile, is still in Denmark and sco­red the winner for B.93 in their second-division ma­tch on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2023