Pakistan have reached the final of the SAFF Championship for the first time in their history, with a goal four minutes from time that silenced the National Stadium in Dhaka and ended the hosts’ dream on their own turf.
Abdul Samad Arshad was the hero of a tense Saturday evening, striking in the 86th minute to give Pakistan a 1-0 win over Bangladesh in the second semi-final. The goal, set up by substitute Hayyaan Khattak after a rare error from the Bangladesh goalkeeper, carried Pakistan into Tuesday’s final against defending champions India.
The match had been balanced on a knife’s edge for almost the full ninety minutes, and for long spells it looked as though neither side would find a way through. Pakistan made the brighter start, carving out two early openings and forcing a save from Bangladesh goalkeeper Mehedi Hasan Srabon. But the hosts gradually settled and began to take control of the ball.
Bangladesh came closest to breaking the deadlock before the interval when Rakib Hossain drove a powerful shot towards goal, only for the Pakistan goalkeeper to turn it onto the post. Pakistan had their own moment of misfortune at the other end, when Abdul Samad found space inside the penalty area and beat the goalkeeper but saw his effort strike the woodwork as well. By the 40-minute mark Bangladesh were enjoying 65 per cent of the possession, yet they could not turn it into a goal, and the two teams went into the break with the score still blank.
The pattern continued after the restart, with Bangladesh pushing forward in search of the opener and Pakistan defending with discipline. The home side created several chances, but the Pakistan back line held its shape, and Srabon also saved a free kick from just outside the penalty area.
With four minutes of normal time remaining, the breakthrough finally arrived, and it came from an unlikely source. Srabon attempted to start an attack with a throw from his own goal, but the ball reached substitute Hayyaan Khattak instead, and Khattak wasted no time in feeding Abdul Samad, who finished calmly to put Pakistan ahead.
Bangladesh pushed for an equaliser in the closing minutes, but Pakistan held on, and the players celebrated a result no Pakistan team had ever achieved. The victory was a major milestone for a side that had reached the semi-finals of this competition four times in the past without ever managing to take the final step, and for a football nation whose best previous finish in the tournament was third place back in 1997.
The road to this final has not been smooth. Pakistan finished second in Group B with three points after a campaign that began with a 3-2 defeat against India on the opening day, a match in which India forward Suhail Ahmad Bhat scored twice. They responded in their second game, beating the Maldives 3-0, with 19-year-old striker Najeeb Ullah Khan scoring twice in the first half, and their place in the last four was only confirmed when India beat the Maldives 1-0 in the final group match. The squad, coached by former Peru international Nolberto Solano, also received a timely boost ahead of the semi-final with the arrival of five overseas-based players who had missed the group-stage matches.
For Bangladesh, the defeat was a bitter end to a promising campaign. The hosts had topped Group A with victories over Bhutan and Sri Lanka, including a 4-0 win over the Sri Lankans, and they had hoped to reach a final for the first time since 2005, when they lost to India. Instead, they will watch the title match from the stands, while Pakistan take their place.
The final, on Tuesday, November 17, at the same venue in Dhaka, will be a rematch of the two teams’ group-stage meeting, which India won 3-2. India, who booked their place in the title match with a 2-1 win over Bhutan in the first semi-final, are the defending champions and the most successful team in the history of the competition, with nine titles to their name, and they will be chasing a record-extending tenth. They are also the highest-ranked team in the tournament, sitting 138th in the world, while Pakistan, at 197th, are the lowest-ranked side of the six teams that took part in this 15th edition, with Nepal absent because of a FIFA suspension.
That gap in rankings and history only adds to the scale of what Pakistan have already achieved, and it frames the final as a meeting between a team that has owned this tournament for three decades and a team that has finally earned the right to challenge them for it. Pakistan’s run in Dhaka has been built on organisation, patience and a willingness to take the chances that matter. Tuesday will ask one more question of them, against the strongest side in the region, and whatever happens, they will walk out for a SAFF final for the first time, knowing that a late goal in Dhaka has already given their football a night it will not forget.
