India goes down in the final with a lacklustre performance

India squandered away a host of opportunities in the final to see them reduced to a mere runner-up in the SAFF Championship 2013. Afghanistan, on the other hand, played some effective football capitalizing on almost every opportunity to beat India 2-0 and lift the trophy for the first time in the 10 edition of the eight-nation tournament.

India went into the final with a moral-boosting 1-0 victory over the tournament-favourites Maldives in the semis. However, the Indians could not find their rhythm right from the beginning, which the Afghans made good use of. They opened the scoring as early as in the ninth minute of the match through German-based-21-year old Azadzoy exposing the chinks in the Indian defense. This early goal seemed to be the much-needed wake-up call for the Indians as they began to show some urgency on the field. The next 30 minutes saw the Indians play their best brand of football in the whole tournament as they created a couple of goal scoring opportunities. But India lacked was the presence of a clinical striker like Sunil Chhetri. The omission of Chhetri in the playing eleven could well be the talking point of the match as neither of Jeje Lalpekhlua and Arata Izumi could shoe their agility in front of the Afghan goal.

As the game moved on to the second half, India pressed forward bit it was the inability of the Indian forwards that made India pay. Finally Koevermans brought on Chhetri at the hour mark as India hoped to restore parity. However, the Afghans caught the Indian defense napping in the 64^th minute as Ahmadi doubled the lead, lobbing the ball over goalie Subrata Paul. In the other half of the filed, India continued their quest for the goal but Mansur Fagiriyar, the Afghan keeper, who had an outstanding tournament, made sure that the Indians get a sniff of the goal.

As the final whistle went off, the jubilant Afghan players erupted into wild celebrations. On the other hand, it was the depleted Indian side with a burden yet another failure to win a trophy outside the home ground. While this humiliating defeat will raise innumerable questions about Wim Koevermans team selection, which is going to give him some sleepless nights as India’s coach in the days to come- this victory will provide the Afghans the deserved recognition as a powerhouse of football in this sector of the world.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.