Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kathmandu: Arnab Mondal scored an 86th minute winner as defending champions India booked the final match ticket in the ongoing South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship 2013 by edging AFC Challenge Cup 2014 hosts Maldives 1-0 in the semi-final on Monday.
With six-time champions India yet again making it into the final, Wednesday’s encounter would be a repeat of the 2011 finale which was played between India and Afghanistan. The AFC Challenge Cup 2014 participating Afghans were already through with a 1-0 victory over Nepal in another semi-final on Sunday.
In one of the highly tempered affairs at the Dashrath Stadium, two Maldivian players were shown the red card after the match while a total of eight yellow cards were flashed by Jordanian referee Adham Makhadhmeh.
“It was a great win against a tough side so we are looking forward to winning the championship for the record seventh time,” striker Robin Singh who started ahead of suspended captain Sunil Chettri said after the match.
Singh, who was declared man of the match, also hailed the team efforts at crunch time to seal an important win.
“It was a great team effort and we believe we can continue this in the final against the Maldives,” he added.