SAFF Championship 2023: Sunil Chhetri’s hat-trick helps India to 4-0 win over Pakistan

The Indian men’s football team kicked off its title defence at the SAFF Championship 2023 with a 4-0 win over arch-rivals Pakistan at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

Sunil Chhetri scored his fourth international hat-trick (10’, 16’ and 73’) and Udanta Singh Kumam (81’) notched a goal in India’s massive win. The 38-year-old Sunil Chhetri has now scored 90 goals in 138 appearances for the national side.

Chhetri is the third Indian to score a hat-trick against Pakistan after Puran Bahadur and IM Vijayan.

The result also meant the seventh straight clean sheet for India.

With the victory, India go top of the Group A points table in the SAFF Championship on goal difference ahead of Kuwait, who defeated Nepal 3-1 in the tournament opener earlier in the day.

The Indian football team, 101 in the FIFA rankings, came into the match on the back of their Intercontinental Cup triumph on Sunday.

India, sporting their traditional blue jersey, got off the blocks quickly and displayed their aggressive intent against the 195th-ranked Pakistan. The hosts attacked down the flanks while Pakistan resorted to counter-attacks.

Ten minutes into the match, the Indian team was gifted the lead after Pakistan goalkeeper Saqib Hanif blundered in front of the goal. After receiving a back-pass, Saqib Hanif failed to clear the ball quickly and played it onto the feet of a running Sunil Chhetri. The Indian captain capitalised on the error and scored to make it 1-0 for India.

Following the goal, the upbeat Indian team continued to attack the Pakistan half from both flanks. The Pakistan defence wilted under pressure and conceded a penalty for handling the ball in their half. Sunil Chhetri stepped up and hit it to the left corner of the goal to make it 2-0 for India.

India continued to maintain possession and dominated the game. Meanwhile, Pakistan came close to scoring in the 29th minute when Muhammed Sufyan dribbled past the Indian defenders only to hit it wide of the goal. The first half ended with India leading 2-0.

India carried the momentum in the second half and immediately pressed for the goal. The Indian midfield fed the forwards with through-balls, however, the attackers were unable to capitalise.

After an end-to-end action which saw Pakistan come close to scoring, it was the Indian team that was awarded a goal. The Pakistan defence once again crumbled under pressure from India. Sunil Chhetri was tackled in the box and the referee quickly pointed to the penalty spot. Chhetri, this time, slotted the ball into the top left corner to register a hat-trick and make it 3-0 for India.

Minutes later, India scored the fourth goal of the match. Anwar Ali played a lobbed shot into the Pakistan half and an unmarked Udanta Singh intercepted the ball and netted from a close range to make it 4-0. With the match out of Pakistan’s reach, the Indian football team kept possession and saw out the game.

Sunil Chhetri is currently the third-highest goal-scorer in international football among active players, only behind Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi of Argentina.

India will play Nepal next in their second Group A match on Saturday.