Igor Stimac rather needlessly tried to obstruct a Pakistan footballer from taking the throw-in, and referee Prajwal Chhetri had to give marching orders to him.

Torben Philip, the Pakistan assistant coach, did not use the incident as a shield for his team’s tepid outing at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

Stimac, a vastly experienced coach and player, chose to interfere when Pakistan player Abdullah Iqbal was ready to make a throw-in. Stimac tried to pull back the ball from the player, sparking wild reactions from some visiting players as well as some coaching staff.

The referee Prajwal Chhetri and other match officials had to intervene to separate the intensely sparring individuals.

As the scuffle was brought under control referee Chhetri showed red card to Stimac, as per the football rules, for interrupting with the actions of an opposition player deliberately.

Stimac could not stand on the sideline for the rest of the match, with former India defending Mahesh Gawli doing the duty on the touchline.

A few players from India and Pakistan teams too were flashed yellow cards for intervening unnecessarily in the episode.

“We did not initiate it, so I think we are on the fare side here of the incident,” said Torben.

Meanwhile, Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick in his team’s triumph in their SAFF Championship campaign opener against Pakistan and became the fourth-highest goal-scorer in international football history.

Now, he has taken his goal tally to 90 and has surpassed Mokhtar Dahari of Malaysia (with 89 goals) to climb to the fourth spot among the highest goal-scorers in international football.

Argentina FIFA World Cup-winning legend Lionel Messi (103 goals), Iran’s retired player Ali Daei (109 goals) and legendary Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo (123) are above Chhetri in the goal-scoring list.

Among the active players, Chhetri has the third-most goals by an international player, with only Messi (103 goals) and Cristiano Ronaldo (123 goals) ahead of him.

*With agency inputs

Updated: 21 Jun 2023, 11:31 PM IST