2008 AFC Challenge Cup final

2008 AFC Challenge Cup final
Indian team celebrating their win
Event2008 AFC Challenge Cup
India Tajikistan
Tajikistan
4 1
Date13 August 2008 (2008-08-13)
VenueAmbedkar Stadium, New Delhi
RefereeValentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)
Attendance10,000
WeatherCloudy and rainy
27 °C (81 °F)

The 2008 AFC Challenge Cup final was a football match that took place on 13 August 2008 at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi to determine the winner of the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup. India defeated title holders Tajikistan in the final by 4–1 and qualified for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. It was the first time since 1984 that they qualified for a major tournament.[1][2] Sunil Chhetri scored his first international hat-trick in this match.[3] Indian forward Bhaichung Bhutia scored the other goal meanwhile the lone strike for the Tajiks was by Fatkhullo Fatkhulloyev.

Background

Tajikistan was playing in their second consecutive final and were the defending champions after their win over Sri Lanka in 2006. Dzhomikhon Mukhidinov scored a brace in that match to give Tajiks a resounding 4–0 win over the Lankans, while the remaining goals were scored by Khurshed Makhmudov and Numonjon Hakimov.[4] For India it was their first appearance in a Continental final since the victory over South Korea in 1962 Asian Games final.[5][6][7]

Venue

Due to incessant rains in Hyderabad in the days leading up to the final, the AFC changed the venue of the final and the third place play-off to the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi.[8][9]

New Delhi
Ambedkar Stadium
Capacity: 20,000

Route to the final

India

India qualified directly to the main tournament as the hosts and did not have to play the qualifying rounds.[10] They were placed in the Group A along with Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan national teams. Indians opened their campaign with a narrow 1–0 win over Afghanistan thanks to the stoppage time winner from Climax Lawrence.[11][12] In the next match they were held to a 1–1 draw by Tajikistan. Tajik striker Yusuf Rabiev broke the deadlock in the 11th minute but goalkeeper Alisher Tuychiev scored an unfortunate own goal in the second-half to ensure the tie ended in a stalemate.[13] The final match of the group stage was a must win against Turkmenistan in order for India to qualify to the semi-finals. Bhaichung Bhutia scored a brace helping his team secure a 2–1 win.[14] The opponents for India in the semi-final was Myanmar and once again secured a narrow 1–0 win with Sunil Chhetri scoring the winner in 82nd minute of the match.[15]

Tajikistan

For Tajikistan the route to the final was more difficult as they have to play the qualifying rounds in order to reach the main tournament. They were placed in the Group B for the qualifiers along with Bhutan, Brunei and the hosts for the round the Philippines. All the matches were played at Barotac Nuevo Plaza Field in Iloilo City.[16] They defeated Bhutan 3–1 and Brunei by the score of 4–0. The match against Philippines ended in a goalless draw which meant Tajikistan topped their group in qualification stage and progressed to the main competition.[17][18][19]

Tajikistan got placed alongside hosts India and their Central Asian neighbours Afghanistan and Turkmenistan in Group A of the main tournament. Their first game ended in a 0–0 draw with Turkmenistan, followed by a one-all draw against India.[20][21] But in the final match day Tajiks demolished Afghanistan 4–0 and qualified for the semi-final.[22] They faced North Korea in the semi-final and won by a solitary goal scored by Dzhomikhon Mukhidinov six minutes before the end of first half.[23]

 India Round  Tajikistan
Opponent Result Qualifying round Opponent Result
Automatic qualifier Automatic qualifier Match 1  Bhutan 3–1
Match 2  Philippines 0–0
Match 3  Brunei 4–0
Final standing
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Tajikistan 3 2 1 0 7 1 +6 7
 Philippines 3 2 1 0 4 0 +4 7
 Bhutan 3 0 1 2 2 7 −5 1
 Brunei 3 0 1 2 1 6 −5 1
Source: RSSSF
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
 Afghanistan 1–0 Match 1  Turkmenistan 0–0
 Tajikistan 1–1 Match 2  India 1–1
 Turkmenistan 2–1 Match 3  Afghanistan 4–0
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 India 321042+27
 Tajikistan 312051+45
 Turkmenistan 311162+44
 Afghanistan 3003010−100
 Final standing
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 India 321042+27
 Tajikistan 312051+45
 Turkmenistan 311162+44
 Afghanistan 3003010-100
Opponent Result Knockout phase Opponent Result
 Myanmar 1–0 Semi-finals  North Korea 1–0

Match

India 4–1 Tajikistan
Chhetri 9', 23', 75'
Bhutia 18'		 AIFF Fatkhuloev 44'
Attendance: 10,000[25]
India
Tajikistan
GK1Subrata Paul
DF5Anwar Ali
MF7Pappachen Pradeep downward-facing red arrow 35'
MF8Renedy Singh
FW11Sunil Chhetri
FW15Bhaichung Bhutia (c) downward-facing red arrow 77'
DF17Irungbam Surkumar Singh
DF19Gouramangi Singh
DF20Samir Subash Naik Yellow card 39'
MF23Steven Dias downward-facing red arrow 86'
MF30Climax Lawrence
Substitutes:
DF2Govin Singh
MF4Krishnan Nair Ajayan
DF6Baldeep Singh
DF12Deepak Mondal
FW18Sushil Kumar Singh upward-facing green arrow 77'
FW21Abhishek Yadav
DF22Syed Rahim Nabi
GK24Subhasish Roy Chowdhury
MF25Clifford Miranda upward-facing green arrow 86'
MF27Mehrajuddin Wadoo upward-facing green arrow 35' Yellow card 43'
MF28Bungo Thomchok Singh
Head Coach:
England Bob Houghton
GK1Alisher Tuychiev
DF2Daler Tukhtasunov
DF3Naim Nasirov downward-facing red arrow 62'
DF6Davron Ergashev
MF9Anvar Norkulov
FW11Numonjon Hakimov downward-facing red arrow 75'
DF12Eraj Rajabov
DF17Sokhib Suvonkulov Yellow card 46'
MF18Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev Yellow card 43'
FW19Dzhomikhon Mukhidinov
MF22Yusuf Rabiev (c)
Substitutes:
MF14Samad Shohzukhurov upward-facing green arrow 62'
DF15Zafardzhon Zuvaydov
GK16Mirali Murodov
DF24Suhrob Mansurov
DF27Isomiddin Qurvonov
FW29Dzhakhongir Dzhalilov upward-facing green arrow 75'
DF31Eradzh Kholov
GK40Amonsho Sodatsayrov
Head Coach:
Pulad Qadirov

Assistant referees:

  • Tamam Hamdoun (Syria)
  • Mohammad Jaber A. H. Dharman (Qatar)

Fourth official:

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Basu, Jaydeep (14 August 2008). "Indians tear Tajiks apart". The Telegraph. Kolkota. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  2. ↑ "India win AFC Challenge Cup". Rediff.com. 13 August 2008. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  3. ↑ "International hat-tricks scored by Indian footballers".
  4. ↑ "AFC Challenge Cup 2006 (Bangladesh)".
  5. ↑ "India's Best Moment In Football Was Winning The 1962 Asian Games Gold And The Current Team Should Be Inspired By It". 6 November 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "India Emerge Asian games Football Champions". The Indian Express. AFP. 5 September 1962. p. 10. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  7. ↑ "India take soccer 'gold' with 2-1 victory". The Straits Times. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  8. ↑ AFC Challenge Cup final shifted
  9. ↑ "New Delhi to host AFC Challenge Cup final on August 13".
  10. ↑ "AFC Challenge Cup final round from July 30".
  11. ↑ "AFC Challenge Cup: India win opener".
  12. ↑ "Climax ensures no anti-climax for India".
  13. ↑ "India ride on opponents own goal, hold Tajikistan 1-1".
  14. ↑ "India vs Turkmenistan". National Football Teams.
  15. ↑ "Chhetri's late goal sends India into AFC Cup final". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 May 2008.
  16. ↑ "Philippines Fail to Qualify for AFC Challenge Cup". lloilo City: ASEAN Football Federatiin. 18 May 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "TJK 3-1 BHU 2008" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. ↑ "PHI 0-0 TJK 2008" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  19. ↑ "Tajikistan 4-0 Brunei". Global Sports Archive.
  20. ↑ "Turkmenistan 0-0 Tajikistan". Global Sports Archive.
  21. ↑ "India 1-1 Tajikistan". Global Sports Archive.
  22. ↑ "Afghanistan 0-4 Tajikistan". Global Sports Archive.
  23. ↑ "Korea DPR 0-1 Tajikistan". Global Sports Archive.
  24. ↑ "India 4-1 Tajikistan". Global Sports Archive.
  25. ↑ "India vs. Tajikistan 2008-08-13". Retrieved 29 July 2022.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.