The goals were scored by skipper Sunil Chhetri, Suresh Singh Wangjam, and Sahal Abdul Samad, who netted a brilliant solo effort.
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India won the SAFF Championship for the eighth time in their history on Saturday as they beat Nepal 3-0 in the final. The goals were scored by skipper Sunil Chhetri, Suresh Singh Wangjam, and Sahal Abdul Samad. The first half was frustrating for the Indians as they failed to beat the Nepal goalkeeper despite being the better team by far. However, they came out in the second half and played with purpose right from the get-go. It only took them four minutes from the restart to take the lead, and only a minute since then to double it. Overall, it was a performance that head coach Igor Stimac could be proud of, especially after what was a dismal start to the campaign.
After 45 minutes of goalless action, the Indian players pulled up their socks and played with more aggression and intent in the second. That led to the Blue Tigers breaking the deadlock in the 49th minute, and of course, Chhetri was the man yet again. The Indian skipper did a fine job to get to the end of a brilliant cross by defender Pritam Kotal from the right flank. Chhetri made no mistake as he headed the ball into the net and made it 1-0 to India.
It only took them a minute to double their lead as Wangjam drilled in a fine low shot in the 50th minute. A calculated pass by Mohammad Yasir after a brilliant cutback saw the ball reach the feet of Wangjam. The midfielder had no problems slotting the ball past the Nepal goalkeeper into the far bottom corner of the net to make it 2-0 to India.
The third and final goal of the match came in the 90th minute and it might well be one of the goals of the competition. Samad, who was brought on to the pitch in the second half, danced past two of the Nepal players as well as their goalkeeper and finished off an outlandish solo effort. It was the goal that sealed India’s eighth SAFF Championship title and it indeed was a thing of beauty.
For Nepal, there were very few positives they could take away from the game. In all honesty, had India taken their chances in the first half, the scoreline could have been a lot worse. Nepal were completely outplayed throughout the duration of the match. They only had 35% of the ball while India enjoyed 65%. The runners-up attempted six shots on goal and managed to get just one on target. The Indians attempted 19 and managed to get eight on target. Three of those eight saw the ball nestling in the back of the net.
It is a much-needed silverware victory for the Indians who have not been performing well of late. They had started the SAFF Championship campaign with two absolutely dismal results. Their first match against a 10-man Bangladesh ended in a 1-1 draw. India failed to win their second match as well as they were held to a goalless draw against Sri Lanka. However, the Blue Tigers won their next two matches 1-0 and 3-1 against Nepal and The Maldives respectively to make it to the final.
