They weren't the team that one expected to be in the final of the competition, but Afghanistan put up a good fight against the Indians in the final of SAFF Championship 2011 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi on Sunday night. But this was in vain as their goalkeeper captain Hameedullah Yousufzari was shown a red card by the referee for a foul inside the penalty box and India's star striker Sunil Chhetri found the back of the net from the spot to open India's scoring late in the second half.
Afghanistan qualified for the final by defeating Nepal by a sole goal in the extra time, while India had it much easier against Maldives winning the semi final with a 3-1 scoreline. Both the coaches decided to go with unchanged eleven in search of the biggest prize in South India.
Taking the first half of performances of both the teams, Afghans were the deserving side to lift the trophy by a long mile. They constantly bombarded the Indian goal and made the Indian defence clueless of what was happening. But some excellent stops from custodian Karanjit Singh just about managed to save the day for the hosts. On one occasion, Balal Arezou who already had six goals to his name in this tournament was clear on goal only to be denied by Karanjit in a last ditch effort.
India were really lucky to have gone into the half time with scores level, as they could have easily gone a couple of goals down before the break. Twice it was Karanjit and once Gouramangi Moirangthem who came to the rescue for India when Balal looked all likely to score which would have been a very famous goal for his country.
But India came out after the limebreak with better energy and looked more like the team they were in the previous matches of the competition. India's first real chance of scoring was when captain Climax Lawrence found Antony Perriera, whose cross was headed inches wide by Pune FC striker Jeje Lalpekhlua.
As the second half progressed, Afghanistan where showing signs of fatigue from the 120 minutes of football against Nepal in the semis and their tempo slowed down with time. The decisive moment of the game came in the 65th minute when Jeje was brought down in the box by an Afghan defender and referee Sukhbir Singh pointed to the spot which looked like a little harsh decision on the Afghan team.
Following the penalty decision, keeper Hameedullh Yousufzari questioned the referee and pushed him which earned him the matching order. Djelaludin Sharatyar was also cautioned for improper behaviour on the pitch. Afghan were one man down when Sunil Chhetri stepped up to take the spot kick and his first kick send their second choice keeper the wrong way. But he needed a retake of the penalty to score his seventh goal of SAFF Championship 2011 and break the record of six goals set by IM Vijayan in the 1997 edition.
There was no stopping for India after going one goal up, as seven minutes later, Clifford Miranda continued his fine form to latch on to a pass from Sunil and unleashed a shot with his weaker right foot to double the lead for India.
India were up and running at this moment and Jeje got his share when he produced a fine finish in the 79th minute, this time also Chhetri playing the assist to the goal. Three goals in the space of nine minutes completely shattered the opponents and the half time whistle could not have come any late for them, but only before India completed the rout when substitute Sushil Kumar Singh, who was the captain of the Indian under-23 side that won the last edition of SAFF Championship at Bangaladesh, scored his first goal of this tournament.
Referee blew the final whistle immediately after the fourth goal and it was celebration time for the Indian team and their supporters who had gathered in large numbers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to witness the final. Theirs sixth triumph in the SAFF Championship and once again crowned as the champions of South Asia, but a dream run by Afghanistan is also one of the reason why this championship will be remembered for.
Local lad Sunil Chhetri was the star of their campaign as he won the 'Most Valuable Player' award and also the fair play award at the tournament. He ended the campaign with seven goals to his name, out of which two coming from the penalty spot. Afghanistan's Balal Arezou came second in the top scorers' list with six goals. Apart from the prize money of USD 50000, All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel has announced a reward of Rs. 1 lakh each for members of the winning Indian team.
SAFF Championship 2011 Final
Final Score: India 4-0 Afghanistan
Goals: Sunil Chhetri (70'), Clifford Miranda (77'), Jeje Lalpeklua (79'), Sushil Kumar Singh (90+4')
India Starting Eleven: Karanjit Singh (Goalkeeper), Syed Rahim Nabi, Mahesh Gawli, Gouramangi Singh, Nirmal Chettri, Clifford Miranda (Lalrindika Ralte), Climax Lawrence (Captain), Rocus Lamare, Anthony Periera (Steven Dias), Sunil Chhetri (Sushil Kumar), Jeje Lalpekhlua
Adwaidh Rajan writes for FootballKerala.com
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Monday 12 December 2011, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.