The Indian national team has kicked-off its SAFF Championship 2013 campaign with a 1-0 win against archrivals Pakistan.

India put early pressure on Pakistan with three corners within the first five minute, but Wim Koevermans team couldn’t challenge the Pakistan goal despite the domiance.

But India took the lead in the 14th minute. when Pakistan skipper Samar Ishaq deflected a long ball by Nirmal Chettri to his own goal to hand India a 1-0 lead.

Pakistan had their first chance in the 23rd minute when Hassan Bashir’s backheel pass found Mohammad Riaz. But Riaz failed to take some advantage of the situation and wasted the chance to the delight of the Indian supporters.

India somehow failed to convert the lead into confidence and Pakistan looked the better side in the second half of the first 45 minutes.

Pakistan’s Hassan Bashir was unlucky not score, when his powerful shot in the 35th minute hit the post. Bashir had another chance to score when he went down the right side and his shot got cleared for  corner by India keeper Subrata Pal in the 41st minute.

Subrata kept India in the lead with a fine save in the 45th minute, when the star keeper denied Mohammad Riaz to score from a lange-range distance.

But India managed to take the lead into the half-time break against a Pakistani side, which looked dangerous on various occasions.

India had their difficulties in the second half and Pakistan had more possession in the second session.

Pakistan made several attempts to find a loopwhole in the Indian defence and Mohammad Adil almost found one, when he went through the whole Indian backline before Mohammad Riaz fired a shot from inside the box. But Nirmal Chettri denied the Pakistanis a goal with a block.

India finally created a chance at the other side in the 64th minute, when a great through ball found Sunil Chhetri in the box. But Yousuf Butt was quick to react and cleared the chance.

Sunil produced the next chance for India with a fine individual effort which ended in a long-range shot. But Yousuf Butt denied India a second goal and cleared the shot for a corner.

India wasted a great opportunity in the 75th minute when Sunil Chhetri failed to put the ball past the Pakistani keeper after a counter-attack. Wim Koevermans’ team finally increased the pace and it looked like, if the second goal could be realistic target.

Sunil missed various other scoring opportunities which would have sealed India’s win against the archrivals.  India kept on pushing hard and produced several good attacks – but none of them were successful.

But the Indian team managed to keep the 1-0 lead until the final whistle was blown and to secure vital three points from the their first match at the SAFF Championship 2013.

VIDEO – WATCH THE FULL MATCH [+ CLICK HERE]
PICTURES [+ CLICK HERE]

SAFF Championship 2013 | Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu (Nepal)
INDIA 1-0 PAKISTAN

GOALS
1-0 Samar Ishaq (14′, og)

LINE-UPS

India
1 Subrata Pal – 4 Nirmal Chettri, 19 Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, 5 Arnab Mondal, 12 Nallappan Mohanraj (66′ 22 Syed Rahim Nabi) – 8 Francis Fernandes, 7 Mehtab Hossain, 6 Lenny Rodrigues, 9 Alwyn George (46′ 17 Jewel Raja Sheikh) – 10 Jeje Lalpekhlua – 11 Sunil Chhetri [C]

Unused Subs
Sandip Nandy, Karanjit Singh, Raju Eknath Gaikwad, Sandesh Jhingan, Izumi Arata, Robin Singh, Dawson Fernandes

Pakistan
18 Yousuf Butt – 5 Samar Ishaq [C], 4 Kamran Khan (34′ 17 Saddam Hussain), 3 Mohammad Ahmad, 25 Zesh Rehman – 21 Mohammad Adil, 23 Faisal Iqbal, 20 Mohammad Riaz (69′ 16 Muhammad Mujahid), 8 Adnan Ahmad – 10 Kaleemullah (88′ 13 Ahsanullah), 11 Hassan Bashir

Unused Subs
Muzammil Hussain, Saqib Hanif, Yaqoob Butt, Yasir Afridi, Naveed Ahmed, Zia Us Salam, Saeed Ahmed

BOOKINGS

Yellow Cards
18′ Subrata Pal (India)
70′ Syed Rahim Nabi (India)

Yellow-Red Cards
none

Red Cards
none

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee
…

Assistant Referees
…, …

Fourth Official
…

Match Commissioner
…

AIFF Match Report

India played Pakistan on the football field. And India won.

The Blue started their defence in the 2013 SAFF Championship with a hard-earned victory over Pakistan at the Dasrath Stadium in Kathmandu on Sunday (September 1). The victory took them to three points and they next play Bangladesh on September 3.

India took the lead in the 14th minute. Nirmal Chhetri tried to find an onrushing Sunil Chhetri between the two rival Central Defenders on the top of the rival goal area. In a desperate attempt to keep Chhetri off, Pakistan Captain Samar Ishaq’s clearance entered his own net.

Francis Fernandes was a livewire on the right. He tormented Kamran Khan whenever he had him in an one-to-one situation. So much so that Khan had to be replaced in the 33th minute itself.

Francis was always able to keep himself free from his marker. And once Mehtab Hossain and Lenny Rodrigues found him, he wrecked havoc. He timed his runs to perfection, went round Khan and essayed crosses behind the rival defence.

India started off on a flash, pressed hard and were rewarded with four corner kicks in the first four minutes itself. But Pakistan regrouped after Saddam Hussain replaced Khan but the Indian defence stood tall.

Immediately after resumption, Jeje Lalpekhlua barged in from nowhere trying to head in a Mehtab free-kick down the right but it went inches wide.

Another header sailed over agonisingly in the 62nd minute – this time Gouramangi Singh staying unlucky. The next minute, Chhetri and Jeje combined but Pakistan averted the danger. And then off the next attack, Chhetri averted Zesh Rehman but his effort was thwarted by Pakistan custodian Yousaf Ejaz Butt.

Sunil Chhetri could have sealed the fate in the 75th minute. He snatched the ball from the centre-line, played an one-two with Mehtab Hossain and found himself all in the clear. But his left footed placement went wide. Off the next attack, his left-footer was again fisted away by Butt.

Chhetri, perhaps, wasn’t destined to score because in the 80th minute, he found himself again in the clear inside the Pakistan penalty box but this time too, his placement just went wide. The fate stayed the same off the next Indian attack, this time too, Chhetri’s powerful shot missing by a whisker.

His wait to overhaul IM Vijayan as India’s second-ever highest goalscorer, continues.

In the 85th minute, another of Francis Fernandes’ shot from inside the box narrowly missed the mark. But all of that didn’t matter. India won one-nil.