India beat Bangladesh in final

Kathmandu, September 29

Ravi Bahadur Rana scored in the injury time as India defeated Bangladesh 2-1 in the final of the SAFF U-18 Championship here at the Nepal APF Club grounds today.

India became champions of the youth football competition for the first time in third appearance. Nepal had won the titles of the first two editions of the tournament but the home side made an early exit this time around, thanks to the 1-1 draw against Maldives and 3-0 defeat at hands of Bhutan. On Sunday, Vikram Pratap Singh put India ahead in the second minute when he converted from close range in one-on-one situation with Bangladesh goalkeeper Shanto Kumar Ray.

Nepali referee Kabin Byanjankar expelled Gurkirat Singh of India and Bangladesh skipper Md Ridoy for their involvement in a scuffle in the 22nd minute. Singh received a straight red card, while Ridoy was shown the second yellow after players from both the sides in an incident which started after one Bangladeshi player fouled India’s goalscorer Vikram Pratap Singh.

Referee Byanjankar had a busy day as he showed 11 yellow cards and three red cards during the match.

Bangladesh levelled the scores in the 39th minute when Yeasin Afafat found the back of the nets. But Afafat was expelled for second yellow card after he took off his jersey while celebrating the goal and Bangladesh played with nine men for the remaining 51 minutes. At a time when the match was heading towards a draw, Ravi Bahadur Rana produced the moment of brilliance when his powerful shot from outside the area kissed the nets.

Ninthoinganba Meetei of India was declared the most valuable player of the tournament, while Bangladesh’s Md Foysal Ahmed Fahim was the highest scorer.

Earlier, Maldives defeated Bhutan 1-0 in the third-place playoff match. Ibrahim Imran scored the solitary goal of the match in the 77th minute.

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