Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kathmandu: Hosts Nepal made it into the semi-finals of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship 2013 after stunning India 2-1 in the last Group A match played at the Dashrath Stadium on Thursday.
Despite the loss, the defending champions India scrapped through into the semi-finals with a better head-to-head record over Pakistan who were on equal points against India after beating Bangladesh.
Nepal bagged seven points from three matches and will play against the losers between AFC Challenge Cup 2014 participating Afghanistan and Maldives who lock horns today to determine the Group B winners.
Playing in front of a capacity crowd at the Dashrath Stadium, Nepal broke the deadlock in the 70th minute after striker Anil Gurung found a rebound off Jumanu Rai’s shot and buried it past Indian goalie Subrata Pal.
Rai himself was on the scoresheet in the 81st minute as he kept his cool to guide the ball past Pal from a tight angle in a counter-attacking move from the hosts.
India pulled a goal two minutes into stoppage time through defender Syed Nabi but it was too late for the Indians to salvage at least a point from the match.