Pakistan forward Arif Mahmood slots in one of his three goals against a hapless Bhutan during their SAFF Championship match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. Pakistan won 7-0 but still they bow out of the tournament with Bhutan, who conceded a stunning 17 goals in their three group league games. Photo: STAR

Striker Arif Mehmood struck the second hattrick of the SAFF Championship as Pakistan demolished Bhutan 7-0 in their last group match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
After going 1-0 down to Sri Lanka and playing out a goalless draw against Bangladesh, Pakistan took the field knowing that a big win against Bhutan might take them to the last four, given that hosts Bangladesh lose their match against an already-through Sri Lanka in the evening fixture.
This was the first meeting between the two South Asian nations and it turned out to be the highest margin victory in the SAFF Championship's 12-year history, beating the previous highest (6-0) set by Sri Lanka against the same side on Sunday. Bhutan, the semifinalists of the last edition, exit the tournament having conceeded a walloping 17 goals against just one for themselves.
This win ranks amongst Pakistan's biggest victories, Pakistan's other 7-0 victory came against Thailand way back in 1960 and a 9-2 victory against Guam last year.
It was one-way traffic in terms of attacks for most of the game, as Pakistan went all out in search of goals while Bhutan, for some reason, also tried to play an attacking game. They never switched to a defensive strategy no matter how exposed their defence proved on occasions and no matter what the score-line approached towards.
Pakistan opted for four changes in their side from the match against Bangladesh, and it looked as if they were in for another goal-drought from the play of the first 20 minutes.
Defender Sabir Khan ran down the right flank with a nice one-two with midfielder Mahmood Ali, who set up captain Muhammad Essa inside the box and the striker flicked Ali's minus home to open the score. And that set the floodgates open.
Three minutes later, UK-based forward Reis Ashraf, who was given room in the starting eleven for the first time, doubled the margin availing a fumble from the Bhutan keeper Kinley Dorji.
Despite being down 2-0, Bhutan never looked to be in defensive mode and frequently went for attack and almost reduced the margin in the 27th minute, but Nawang Dendup failed to beat goalkeeper Jaffar Khan from a one-on-one situation.
On the contrary, Pakistan extended their lead from the counterattack as Arif Mehmood, top-scorer of Pakistan domestic league, darted in the danger zone, capitalising on a long-ball from goalkeeper before lashing an angular shot past Bhutan goalkeeper Tenzin, who was playing his first international match after number one keeper Leki was ruled out due to injury.
Arif then struck his second in the 36th minute with a grounder before defender Shabir Khan made it 5-0 just before the break.
After resumption, there was still no resistance in the Bhutan backline and Pakistan captain Essa found the back of the net from a freekick inside the box nine minutes into the second half when referee Shrestha Raja awarded the foul following a Bhutan defender's back pass which the inexperienced goalkeeper grabbed with his hands.
Arif completed the rout with his hattrick in the 65th minute to join the hattrick heroes of the tournament's history; Sri Lanka's Kasun Jayasuriya and Chathura Gunarathna, Fazeel Ibrahim of Maldives and Habib of Afghanistan.
Despite winning the match by a big margin, Pakistan coach George Kottan was not totally happy and thought that they had only one percent chance of qualifying for the semifinals.
"I am not happy with the outcome as I told the boys I wanted at least eight goals, but they struck seven," Kottan said. "We have only one percent chance of qualifying for the semifinals as I believe Bangladesh will not lose against Sri Lanka in the day's next match."
Bhutan coach Koji Gyotoku conceded that Pakistan have won the match as they were clear favourites. However, he said that the injury to their number one keeper might have played some part in this heavy defeat.
Scorers: Muhammed Essa (20,54), Arif Mehmood (27,36,65), Reis Ashraf (23), Shabir Khan (45)
TEAMS
PAKISTAN: Jaffar Khan, Shabir Khan, Mahmood Ali, Abdul Aziz, Muhammad Essa, Jadeep Khan Pathan, Arif Mehmood, Khuda Baksh, Amjad Iqbal (Nasirullah Khan), Atif Bashir Qureshi and Reis Ashraf.
BHUTAN: Pema, Passang Tshering, Kinley Dorji, Sonam Tenzin (Kinga Thinley), Nawang Dendup (Dawa Gyeltshen), Kuran Gurung, Gyeltshen, Chencho, Kinley Wangchuk, Kelzang Dorji and Tenzin (Tshering Dhendup).
Referee: Shrestha Raja (Nepal)