Bangladesh Face Pakistan in SAFF Semi-final: Statistics Favour the Red and Green
Bangladesh stand one step away from ending a 23-year wait for a SAFF Championship final. The obstacle in the semi-final is Pakistan.
The second semi-final of the 15th SAFF Championship kicks off at Dhaka National Stadium on Saturday at 8:30pm Bangladesh time, with Bangladesh facing Pakistan.
Bangladesh have the chance to revive a happy memory from 21 years ago. In the 2005 SAFF semi-final in Karachi, the red and green beat Pakistan to reach the final.
Bangladesh also lead the head-to-head history. Since 1982 the two sides have met 18 times — Bangladesh have won seven, Pakistan six, and five matches have been drawn.
Bangladesh are further ahead across the last 10 meetings: four wins against Pakistan's single victory, in the group stage of the 2013 SAFF Championship, with five draws.
In the SAFF Championship itself the teams have met seven times. Bangladesh have won three, Pakistan two, and two matches ended in draws.
Their most recent meeting in the tournament came in the group stage in 2018, when Jamie Day's charges won through Topu Barman's solitary goal.
Pakistan have never won on Bangladeshi soil. Their only previous SAFF semi-final meeting, in Karachi in 2005, also ended in defeat against the side of Alfaz and Kanchan.
This Pakistan side, however, is quite different. It includes several diaspora players who play for clubs in Europe and Australia — Yusuf Butt, Abdullah Iqbal, Haris Zeb, Adil Nabi, Abdul Arshad, Ali Khan, Umar Nawaz and Mikel Abdullah.
Thomas Dooley's charges are not far behind. The red and green jersey features Hamza Choudhury, Farhan Ali Wahid, Shamit Shome, Tarique Kazi, Jamal Bhuyan, Zidan Alexander Yusuf, Zayan Ahmed, Shuki Itofusa, Kazim Shah and Fahmidul Islam.
Diaspora players have played a key role behind both teams' recent success — for Bangladesh just as much as for Pakistan.
Bangladesh are aiming to reach the SAFF final for a fourth time, 21 years after their last appearance. Pakistan, meanwhile, are trying to reach the final for the first time.
