India launched their quest for a hat-trick of titles in the most uninspiring fashion, slumping to a shock 0-1 defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Pakistan in the opening match of the third South Asian Football Federation championship at the Bangabandhu National stadium in Dhaka on Friday.
Sharfaraz Rasool scored the all-important goal five minutes into the second-half in front of a packed holiday crowd to seal the fate of a depleted Indian side.
In the other preliminary league match of the day, riding on a 41st minute srike by skipper Duddley Steinwall, Sri Lanka defeated debutants Afghanistan by a similar margin.
Earlier, Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia declared the eight-nation tournament open following a colourful inaugural ceremony.
The defeat was a major blow for Stephen Constantine's team as it will now have to negotiate Group A opponents Sri Lanka to keep their hopes alive in the competition.
The defeat against Pakistan also exposed how much India will miss the killer instincts of their star striker Baichung Bhutia, who had to pull out from the meet due to an injury.
It was a rare victory for Pakistan against India on the football field. The last time Pakistan won against India was way back in 1991 during the Colombo SAF Games when they triumphed by the same scoreline.
The only goal of the match came from a quick counter attack in the 50th minute, with Wadeer Ahmed sending a nice cross from the left corner of the field. The ball beat a confused Indian custodian Naseem Akhter and Sharfaraz made no mistake in chesting it into the net.
The strike from the 26-year-old midfielder proved enough for the Pakistanis as they boldly kept the Indian forwards at bay for the remaining 40 minutes.
India, however, created a few chances as they set about to level the score but striker IM Vijayan wasted two of those opportunities, shooting wide off the mark from advantageous positions.
Apart from those and a beefy first-half attempt by Alvito D'Cunha, the fancied Indians did little to justify their tag as the top team of the region.
It was evident from the start that Pakistan wanted to sit back in their own half and allow India to come forward and then try to hit on the break. Despite enjoying possession, India failed to maintain sustained pressure.
They got a few chances in both halves, but could not show the kind of football they played during the Busan Asian Games and LG Cup. They looked listless in the midfield with the only exception being some energetic runs from Jo Paul Anchery.
"We created a few chances. But that was not enough against Pakistan who battled extremely hard. It was a bad day, but on any other day the score could have been 5-1 in our favour," said India's coach Constantine.
He said a team missing four frontline players and with only five day's training together could expect this sort of start.
"At the same time I do not want to take away anything from the Pakistani effort. But still we deserved a point," he said.
But Constantine feared another player might join the long injury list.
"Alvito got a spank in the first-half. I'm not sure whether he would be fit before our next game against Afghanistan," he said, adding he is confident of the team bouncing back.
India play debutants Afghanistan on Sunday in their next match.
While India were stunned into silence, the Pakistanis were over the moon.
"This night will go down as the best of my 12 years as a national player," said an elated Pakistan captain Haroon
Yousuf at the post-match briefing. The 31-year-old defender has been playing for the national since the 1985 SAF Games in Dhaka.
Pakistan coach Lutfi termed the victory even sweeter since his side began the tournament as underdogs.
"This is a very special win for us. Definitely the absence of Bhutia proved a big factor in our success. He is a very difficult striker to keep guard. But hats of to my defence which did a splendid job," said the Pakistan coach.
In the other match, Sri Lankan skipper Steinwall led from the front, scoring the winner just four minutes before half-time.
The Lankans dominated the proceedings for most part of the match as Afghanistan struggled despite the presence of four-Germany based players in their ranks.
