KARACHI: In spite of a thumping 7-0 win over Bhutan in their last Group B match on Tuesday, Pakistan failed to make it to the semifinals of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship being held at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Bangladesh. The Greenshirts had to wait for the result of the match between the hosts Bangladesh and Sri Lanka after recording a commanding triumph over the last year’s semifinalists and the output was shocking for Pakistan as Bangladesh inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Sri Lanka to show an exit door to George Kottan’s troops. Experienced striker Arif Mehmood scored a hat-trick in Pakistan’s victory. It was the second biggest win in the history of the SAFF Championship. The Muhammad Essa-led Pakistan opted for aggressive display right from the start. Pakistan took the initiative in the 20th minute when Essa scored. Two minutes later, British-based Reis Ashraf scored his first international goal to double Pakistan’s lead. Multan-born Arif Mehmood, stretched the lead in the 26th minute and scored his second goal ten minutes later before another Britain-based young defender Shabir Khan made it 5-0 moments before breather. Essa scored his second goal in the 55th minute and the demoralised Bhutan leaked another goal when Arif Mehmood’s piercing drive went into the net to complete his hat-trick. caption DHAKA: Pakistan’s Khuda Baksh (left) vies for the ball with Bhutan’s Kinley Dorji (right) during their SAFF football Championship match at the Banghabandhu National Stadium here on Tuesday |
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