Pakistan will go all out for three points when they will take on 2006 Silver medallist Sri Lanka in the third AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers (Group-D) at Sugathadasa Stadium in Sri Lankan capital of Colombo on Wednesday (April 8).
Sri Lanka lead the table with six points from two matches while Pakistan recorded four points from as many matches. A clear-cut win over Sri Lanka will push Pakistan on top and a trip to India next year. Later on, at 6 PM PST, Chinese Taipei (1 point) will go all out for huge win over eliminated Brunei Darussalam (pointless) to keep themselves in hunt as best-runner up among four groups.
It will be 18th Pakistan-Sri Lanka clash in international soccer arena. Both - Pakistan and Sri Lanka - were also in front of each other in second edition of same event last year at Chinese Taipei's Chungshan Stadium in Taipei, with latter winning 7-1.
The 1995 SAFF Champions and runner-up of First AFC Challenge Cup Sri Lanka has defeated Pakistan only once during reign of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)'s President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat that started in August 2003. The sixth SAFF championship 2005 saw Pakistan managed 1-0 win over Lankans at Karachi while the two U23 meeting between the two on Sri Lankan soil in 10th South Asian Games 2006 ended in Pakistan's triumph. Pakistan won the league match against them 1-0, followed by another 1-0 win in 26th August final at Sugathadasa. Pakistan also overwhelmed them 5-4 on tiebreaker in Islamabad's SAF Games 2004 semi-final after 1-1 draw.
Sri Lankans are currently 164th in FIFA World ranking as compared to Pakistan's 166. Both the nations won seven times in the 17 matches held so far in track record with three matches ended in draw. The goal counts in favour of Pakistan are 24-28.
The first full international match between two South Asian nations took place in 1952 when Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon. Pakistan won 2-0 in four-nation "Colombo Cup" at Colombo, and maintained their winning spree in next three events too; winning 6-0 at Rangoon 1953, 2-1 at Calcutta 1954 and Dhaka 1955.
After four back-to-back defeats, Sri Lanka recorded their first win over Pakistan with handsome 4-0 scoreline when SAFF Championship was erupted as SAARC Gold Cup in 1993 at Lahore, followed by another win (2-1) during Dhaka's SAF Games soccer in the same year.
Both the outfits met twice in Kathmandu's SAFF Championship 1997. On 6 September, Pakistan suffered 0-2 defeat in league encounter but removed the weaknesses under late skipper Qazi Ashfaq to inflict 1-0 win in bronze-medal decider when both the team took the field again seven days later. Wednesday (8 April) Fixture; Sri Lanka v Pakistan (3.30 PM PST) Chinese Taipei v Brunei Darussalam (6 PM PST).
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