Dec 8, 2005
FootballAsia.com
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India's Mutheb Hussain opens the scoring against Nepal [WSG]
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KARACHI – India’s quest for a third SAFF Championship title began with a 2-1 win over Group B rivals Nepal although the side from the Himalayan kingdom showed enough spirit to make things difficult for the regional powerhouse.
The 1997 and 1999 champions needed just six minutes to stamp their superiority on the match when a perfectly weighted pass half split a static Nepal back three and allowed Mehtab Hussain to despatch a low angled drive past Bikas Malla.
The young custodian, deputising for the experienced Upendra Man Singh, Nepal’s skipper when he plays, clawed away an 18th minute curler from Baichung Bhutia, before being beaten for a second time by Hussain ten minutes later.
The unmarked Mohun Bagan attacker slotted home Surkumar Singh’s cutback after some purposeful running from the right channel and an intelligent dummy from Bhutia.
With ten minutes off the half remaining, Nepal pulled a goal back which was claimed by the recently married Basanta Thapa, who has put his honeymoon on hold to spearhead Nepal’s SAFF frontline, although the final touch appeared to come from the aforementioned Singh.
Surendra Tamang sprung the offside trap but while Sandip Nandy was alert to the danger and flung himself at the feet of the Nepal attacker the ball spun of the India keeper’s body towards Thapa whose weak downward header was nodded into the net off the inside of the post by Singh, Nandy’s team mate at Mahindra United.
Nepal started the second half well and after forcing a succession of corners almost drew level in the 53rd minute but Surendra’s shot, following a neat one-two on the edge of the box, lacked the power to take the ball past Nandy.
As the half went on Nepal were becoming more and more confident and they took the game to their more illustrious opponents, who are 41 places higher on FIFA’s World Ranking.
With 15 minutes left to play India’s goal scorer Hussain was lucky to stay on the park when, having earlier been booked for not retreating the required ten yards at a free-kick, he escaped a second yellow after a dangerous two-footed tackle on Tashi Tsering.
India’s attacks were becoming less frequent as they were reluctant to expose themselves at the back as Nepal chased the equaliser but they still had two golden chances to put the tie beyond any doubt.
The first came in the 77th minute when Climax Lawrence went for power rather than placement and blasted wide with the goal at his mercy and the second was Bhutia scuffed a penalty wide with three minutes left to play.
Thankfully for India it didn’t effect the outcome of the game but they might be hoping goal difference is not a factor later on in the campaign.
