India wins SAFF title for 8th time
16 Oct. 2021 (Male) – India won the SAFF Championship 2021 defeating Nepal 3-0 in the finals played at the National Stadium on Saturday.
Second half goals from Sunil Chhetri, Suresh Singh Wangjam and Sahal Abdul Samad gave India their record eighth regional title.
The win fetched a cash prize of USD 50,000 for the winning team and USD 25,000 for the runner-up.
A goal-less first half brightened up after the interval as India put up a dominant performance against Nepal who had appeared in their first final ever of the championship. Two goals inside a minute gave India total control of the game that otherwise looked to either side.
Sunil Chhetri opened the scoring for India in the 49th minute through a header inside the penalty box and Wangjam quickly added the second one for India in the 50th minute. India sealed the one-sided win in the first minute of injury time (90+1) through Samad who dribbled past three defenders before beating keeper Kiran Kumar Limbu from close range.
Skipper Chhetri took individual honors for highest scorer with five goals, most valuable player of the tournament and the man-of-the-match.
With the five goal in the tournament, Chhetri took his international goal tally to 80 goals.