Pakistan assistant coach Torben Witajewski cited travel as one of the reasons after the loss.
Bengaluru: The Indian football team and their captain Sunil Chhetri were at their best against Pakistan during a SAFF Championship 2023 match on Wednesday at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. The hosts blanked Pakistan 4-0 to get their campaign off to the perfect start. The four goals featured a hattrick from Chhetri. Following the routing against India, Pakistan is crying foul. Pakistan assistant coach Torben Witajewski cited travel as one of the reasons after the loss.
“The problem about the travel was we received the visa very late and a lot of problems in Mumbai at the airport with the immigration. So it was tough for the guys. The last group arrived at half past one in the hotel today (Wednesday). After 16 hours, right. So this is not easy, it’s very tough but you have to cope with the situation. You cannot change it,” said the coach at the presser after the routing.
“We cannot change the situation so I suppose the federation did everything but it is like this. It was clear we have to cope with the situation like we played. It was difficult,” he added.
The Pakistan side was schedule dto arrive in Bengaluru a day ahead of the fixture, while most did land on Tuesday – some players arrived to the city a few hours ahead of the game.
Earlier, Chhetri netted an early brace before adding another after the break for his fourth international hat-trick, thereby taking his tally to 90 goals. Substitute Udanta Singh then finished the job with the fourth goal late on to sum up a memorable night for the Blue Tigers on their return to Bengaluru after almost six years.