India defeats Nepal to lift SAFF title for eighth time

India outplayed Nepal 3-0 to win its eighth SAFF Football Championship title at the National Stadium in the Maldives on Saturday.

After a scoreless first half, India opened out in the second quarter and went on to score three goals and seal the final contest in their favour. The top goalscorer and the of the best players of the Tournament Sunil Chhetri, Suresh Singh and Sahal Abdul Samad scored a goal each for India.

Chhetri scored in the 49th minute of the match, which put him level with Lionel Messi on 80 international goals while Singh doubled the lead in the 50th minute to pave the way for India’s title triumph. Samad made it 3-0 when he dribbled past a few defenders to score in the 90th minute of the game.

India dominated possession in the first half but failed to break the deadlock. However, Chhetri put India ahead minutes into the second half after he charged in to neatly head in a delivery from Pritam Kotal on the right flank, leaving the Nepalese goal-keeper with no chance to come to his team’s rescue.

Barely a minute after Chhetri’s opener, another attack by India caught Nepal completely off-guard as Suresh found the back of the net after Yasir Mohammad brilliantly cut it back for the midfielder.