Maldives clinch SAFF Cup with historic 1-0 win over India
By Leslie Fernando
Maldives rose to the occasion to lift the seventh South Asian
Football Federation Cup for the first time in their history with a close
1-0 win over defending champions and four time winners India in the
final played before a capacity crowd at the Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo
yesterday after the scores read nil-all at half time.
The Maldives entered the field with one resolve to score the match
winning goal and they had the better of exchanges in both halves despite
missing an easy goal just before half time by Ahmed Tariq who just
failed to head the ball into the net.
In a rousing game the Maldives pulled off one of their greatest
victories in football when in the 87th minute Mukthar Nasser slammed in
an accurate kick into the goal after a perfect pass from the left flank
by Ali Ashsaq much to the jubilation of thousands of Maldivian
supporters who had come all the way to witness the final.
Referee: Nafees Abdul Wahab of Malaysia. |