LAHORE Pakistan will be aiming to go all out for three points when they take on silver medalists Sri Lanka on Wednesday in the third AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers (Group-D) at Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka lead the table with six points from two matches while Pakistan recorded four points from as many matches. A win over Sri Lanka will push Pakistan on top and earn them a trip to India next year. Chinese Taipei (1 point) will meet Brunei Darussalam (pointless) and aim to win to keep themselves in hunt as best-runner up among four groups.
It will be 18th Pakistan-Sri Lanka clash in international football. The two teams also clashed in the second edition of same event last year at Chinese Taipeis Chungshan Stadium, with Sri Lanka winning 7-1.
The Sri Lankans are currently ranked 164th in the FIFA World ranking as compared to Pakistans 166. Both nations have recorded seven wins in the 17 matches held so far betweem the two side with three matches ending in draw.
Runners-up of the First AFC Challenge Cup, Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in 2003. The sixth SAFF championship 2005 saw Pakistan managing a 1-0 win over Lankans at Karachi while the two U-23 meetings between the two on Sri Lankan soil in the 10th South Asian Games 2006 ended in Pakistans triumph. Pakistan won the league match against them 1-0, followed by another 1-0 win in the 26th August final at Sugathadasa.
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 the four-nation 'Colombo Cup' at Colombo, and maintained their winning spree in next three events also, 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 score line in the SAARC Gold Cup in 1993 at Lahore, followed by another win (2-1) during Dhakas SAF Games in the same year.
Both the outfits met twice in Kathmandus 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 teams took the field again seven days later. Both the teams were involved in high-scoring games in 2001 when World Cup Qualifiers were staged at Beirut and Bangkok.
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