| India wins SAFF championship
17 December 2005
Uploaded: 17.12.2005, 08:15 PM
Mehraj (R) celebrating India's first goal (AFP)
Karachi, PAKISTAN - India were crowned the kings of South Asian football for a third time with a 2-0 defeat of Bangladesh in the 2005 SAFF Championship final on Saturday.
The victory created a landmark for India skipper Baichung Bhutia who became the first player to win a SAFF Championship gold for the third time after playing a key role in India’s 1997 and 1999 triumphs.
A second yellow card in the semi-final victory over the Maldives saw India’s leading scorer in the tournament, Mehtab Hossain, ruled out although head coach Syed Nayeemuddin was able to welcome back his Mohan Bagan team mate Mehraj Uddin in his place.
Uddin sat out the 1-0 win over the 2003 runners-up after his red card in the last Group B match, which was ironically against Bangladesh, and he was to make a telling return by scoring the goal that put India one up at half-time.
Bangladesh, who lined up with the same side that defeated hosts Pakistan 1-0 in the other semi-final, started the brighter of the two sides and fashioned the first real chance of the match, although Nanjangud Manju’s 20th minute shot from just outside the box too weak to trouble Aminul Hoque.
Two minutes later Baichung Bhutia had a chance to test the Bangladesh keeper, one of 11 players in the current squad who were in the team that defeated India 2-1 in the 2003 SAFF Championship semi-final, but his free-kick from the edge of the area was struck tamely into defensive wall.
The India skipper, aiming to be the first player to win three SAFF Championships, was instrumental when the two-time champions almost took a 27th minute lead, knocking Shanmugam Venkatesh’s free-kick into the path of Climax Lawrence, whose low, angled shot flew wide of Hoque’s right hand post.
India had taken a stranglehold on the game and their pressure finally told when some frenetic defending in the Bangladesh penalty box served only to clear the ball as far as Uddin, who was unmarked and positioned conveniently in the arc of the area.
The Mohan Bagan celebrated his return from suspension by firing India into a 33rd minute lead with a well-struck shot that swerved past a forest of players and into the bottom left corner.
It was only the second goal Bangladesh had conceded in the tournament and six minutes after the interval they were almost breached again when their failure to adequately clear their ranks gave Uddin an opportunity for his and India’s second but his acrobatic volley was blocked on its towards the Bangladesh goal.
Bangladesh struggled to find the key to unlock the India defence and with ten minutes left to play Bhutia sealed the defending champions’ fate but while the talismanic striker applied the finishing touch the credit must go to substitute Abdul Hakim.
The State Bank of Travancore striker refused to surrender possession despite the combined efforts of Hasan Al Mamun and Mohammed Abdul Hossein, bulldozing past the Bangladesh duo to whip the ball into the six yard box where it was met by the sliding Bhutia, whose second goal of the tournament wrapped up his, and India’s third SAFF Championship title.
Maldives trio Ibrahim Fazeel (Oppo), Ahmed Thariq (TOM) and Ali Ashfaag (Dhagey) finished joint top scorers with three goals each, one shy of Pakistan forward Sarfaraz Rasool’s table topping total of four goals in five games at the last SAFF Championship.
--------------------------
Nick McCormack
footballasia.com
....................................................................................................................
Send your comment about this article, [email protected]
|
