By Samindra Kunti
January 4 – India have won the South Asian Football Federation Cup (SAFF Cup) for the seventh time defeating Afghanistan 2-1 in the final to kick off 2016 on a high.
The Blue Tigers endured a miserable 2015, slumping to a lowly 2-1 defeat away to Guam in World Cup qualifying with English coach Stephen Constantine failing to deliver on his promise of attacking football.
The travails of the Indian team were a reflection of the dire state of the game in India with the Indian Super League fragmenting a weak football landscape and the All India Football Federation continuing its institutional hibernation.
Constantine and his charges can celebrate a bright start to the New Year though with victory in the SAFF Cup yesterday.
The SAFF Cup was established in 1993 when it was called the South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal participating in the biennial tournament.
In 2005 Afghanistan joined and the Afghans have been challenging India’s supremacy, winning the tournament in 2013. They defeated India 2-1 in Kathmandu. This time though India were superior.
Yet Zubayr Amiri opened the score for Afghanistan. Jeje Lalpekhlua equalised in the 72nd minute for the hosts at the Trivandrum International Stadium in Kerala. In extra time India’s talismanic striker Sunil Chetri settled the match.
In the semi-finals India had edged the Maldives 3-1.
The new trophy will relieve some of the pressure on Constantine as India are expected to make a jump upwards from their current 166th position on the FIFA ranking. Afghanistan are ranked 150th. Thursday FIFA will release a new ranking.
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