Matches between Pakistan and India in any sports are always high-voltage encounters and this was true in the case of the football match the two sides played in the 2023 SAFF Championship 2023 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday night where the Indian coach’s fault ruined their 4-0 victory.
Things started pretty smoothly but Pakistan goalkeeper Saqib Hanif seemed to feel the nerves that came with the occasion, with one of his rather schoolboy errors gifting Indian captain Sunil Chhetri the first goal.
While India dominated the proceedings throughout the 90 minutes, things got intense five minutes before the half-time whistle. The incident also saw the referee pull a red card from his pocket, the only from the match.
It started with Indian coach Igor Stimac getting himself involved in a small moment as Pakistan's Abdullah Iqbal got ready for a throw-in. The coach tapped the ball out of Iqbal's hands, following which his teammate Rahis Nabi rushed towards the Indian technical area and exchanged a few words with Stimac. The moment was enough to send a crowd of over 20,000 present at the stadium into a frenzy and players too got involved.
While players and the coaches didn't hold back from venting at each other, Marcelo Schroeder Costa, Pakistan's goalkeeping coach, appeared the most angry. Apart from shoving and pointing fingers at few members from the Indian contingent, Costa was also seen headbutting Indian team manager Velu Dhayalamani before being separated by the Pakistani players and support staff
India's assistant coach Mahesh Gawli, who is a former centre-back himself, then took India's charge in the second half. When enquired by reporters from Gawli to shed some light on the incident, the assistant coach admitted it was Stimac's fault but added the referee was a bit harsh.
"It was a red card because he (Igor Stimac) can't do that. But it was too harsh because Pakistani players came and pushed him. Either referee didn't see or deliberately didn't give (red card to them). There wasn't any red card for any officials, despite one of them headbutting our manager," he said at the post-match press conference.
Pakistan assistant coach Torben Witajewski also passed his remarks on the incident and said: “There was one situation in the game, but it was not provoked by us.”
It was difficult to not feel sorry for a shattered and embarrassed Saqib Hanif as he buried his face in his hands, with his teammates putting their arms around him to console him.
The Pakistan goalkeeper, along with 19 other players, reached Bengaluru only seven hours before the kickoff against India. Sleep-deprived and tired from a long overnight journey from Mauritius via Mumbai, Hanif stepped on the field for his team’s opening match of the South Asian Football Championship in a foggy state of mind.
Whether it was that, nervousness of playing in front of 22,860 fans or a wet outfield only Hanif will be able to tell. But in the 10th minute, his howler opened the floodgates for India and put an end to any hopes of an upset.
After receiving a back pass from a defender, Hanif controlled it with his left and tried to hoof it forward with the right foot but he completely missed the ball, lost his balance and fell flat on his backside. It fell on a platter for Sunil Chhetri, who wouldn’t have scored many easier goals in his two-decade-long playing career as he slotted it into an empty net.
It was a goal that opened the floodgates on a rain-soaked night at the Sree Kanteerva Stadium as Chhetri’s hat-trick and a goal from Udanta Singh ensured India began their title defence of the regional competition with a comfortable 4-0 win over their neighbours.
