Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 1 - 0

Tournament hosts Pakistan got their 2005 SAFF Championship off to a competent, if uninspiring start, with a 1-0 win over Sri Lanka, in a match where neither of the sides displayed the attractive attacking vigour of the Maldives who fired nine past Afghanistan in the earlier Group A fixture.
While the pre-match preamble centred around the competitive debut of England-born defender Zesh Rehman, Mudasur Saeed threatened to steal the Fulham defender’s thunder 60 seconds after kick-off when his header grazed the crossbar after the Sri Lankan failed to deal with a long throw into the penalty area.

Pakistan dominated the first half and could have taken the lead on a few occasions had it not been for a couple of fine saves from Sri Lankan goalkeeper S.D. Thilakaratne, who looked to have finally been beaten in the 35th minute.

Abdul Aziz flicked a pass from Zahid Hameed, deep inside Pakistan territory, over Thilakaratne and while the touch took the ball past the keeper it also took it over the bar. Two minutes later, the home side got the goal their effort warranted when K.C.C Fernando, under pressure from Zesh Rehman, deflected a Zahid Hameed corner into the path of Imran Hussain, who hooked the ball into the back of the net.
The Sri Lankans were the stronger of the two after the interval but while they claimed the lion’s share of the possession, with K. Fuarj impressing with some skilful, penetrating runs down the right channel, they failed to test Pakistan keeper and captain Jaffar Khan, although the SAFF Championship hosts were equally devoid of ideas in the attacking third and were a shadow of the side that dominated the first half.

However, with two minutes left to play, Thilakaratne did well to stop a Zahid Hameed corner connecting with the shaven head of the statuesque Zesh Rehman, who marshalled the back four of his adopted homeland superbly on his competitive debut.