While the action from the current European Football circuit has somewhat simmered down due to the ongoing summer transfers between all the clubs, there’s still some exciting action going on in the South Asian circuit. Coming in hot from the ongoing South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, the Indian football team defeated Pakistan in the group stages of the tournament. The Indian time dominated the match that ended in a 4-0 one-sided contest at the Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium in Bengaluru.
Sunil Chhetri joined Puran Bahadur Thapa, IM Vijayan, and Jeje Lalpekhlua as the fourth Indian to record a hat-trick against Pakistan. In addition, he scored his 90th goal for his country, moving him into third place among active international goal scorers worldwide behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Sunil Chhetri, a legendary player in Indian football, became the fourth-highest goal scorer in the annals of international football as his team defeated Pakistan in the SAFF Championship opener.
The Blue Tigers did not fall short in their match against Pakistan, as they took the lead in the 10th minute of play following a mistake by the Pakistani keeper that allowed skipper Sunil Chhetri to give the hosts the lead. Six minutes after India’s first goal, Chhetri extended the advantage for India by converting a penalty kick.
Igor Stimac, the Indian team’s coach, was dismissed from the game just before the first half ended for interfering with the game, which sparked an altercation between the players and coaches of the two sides. The Croatian pushed the ball off a Pakistani player’s hand as he attempted to stop a throw-in.
India continued to control the game in the second half, and in the 74th minute, Sunil Chhetri scored to complete his hat-trick by scoring his second penalty shot of the game. In the 81st minute, Udanta Singh made it 4 for the home team to finish the thrashing. The two countries met for the first time since India defeated Pakistan 3-1 at the 2018 SAFF Cup. The Indian national football team won 4-0 and moved up to the top spot in their Group based on goal difference. In just three days, they will play against Nepal in their next game.
