Goals from captain Sunil Chhetri and Mahesh Singh helped India beat Nepal 2-0 in their second group match to qualify for the semi-finals of the SAFF Football Championship here on Saturday. Chhetri scored again for his team, his fourth goal of the tournament. He scored in the 61st minute and then Mahesh Singh scored the second goal for the team in the 70th minute as India registered their second win in a row. India had thrashed Pakistan 4-0 in their opening match of the tournament on Wednesday in which Chhetri scored a hat-trick. Chhetri (91 goals in 139 matches) is the second highest goalscorer among Asian footballers behind Iran’s Ali Daei (109 goals in 148 matches) and third among active footballers in the world. He is the highest goalscorer among active Asian players.
With six points from two wins, India qualified for the semi-finals from Group A along with Kuwait (six points). Kuwait beat Pakistan 4-0 in the first match of the day to register their second consecutive win. The Indian team will now take on Kuwait on June 27 to decide the winner of the group. Nepal and Pakistan are out of the semi-final race after losing both their matches. India, however, had to deal with a tough challenge from Nepal to reach the semi-finals. India made a lot of changes in the match, with only three players in the starting XI retaining their places, Chhetri, Anirudh Thapa and Sahal Abdul Samad, who played in the previous match against Pakistan. Nepal showed a great performance in the first half with strong defense and quick counter-attacks. India had their first good chance in the 21st minute, but Sahal’s header from a cross went wide of the goalpost.Nepal could have taken the lead in the 34th minute had Bimal Ghatri’s shot been a little quicker. In the second half, India showed more pace and they got the result in the 61st minute when Sahal and Mahesh scattered the Nepalese defense in a one-two combination to pass Chhetri inside the box and the star forward beat Nepali goalkeeper Kiran Limbu. Scored a goal while dodging.
After this goal, the Indian footballers were full of energy and went in search of another goal with Sahal performing brilliantly in midfield. The Kerala footballer played alongside Mahesh Singh in the second half. Sahal’s quickness and skill played a vital role in the team’s second goal. The midfielder ran down the middle to play a pass to Chhetri who sent it towards Limbu and in the 70th minute Mahesh Singh was in the right place to head it home to give India a decisive 2-0 lead. Despite losing two goals, Nepal did not reduce its efforts to come back. But India kept the scoreline intact.
