Team India continued their impressive run in the SAFF Championship with a resounding 2-0 win over Nepal on Saturday (June 24). They had thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan 4-0 at the start of their campaign. However, the win over Nepal was marred by controversy as players from both the teams were involved in a bad fight during the match.
The incident happened during the 64th minute of the game when India’s Rahul Bheke and Nepal’s Bimal Gharti Magar were fighting for a header. In the process, Rahul landed awkwardly and was not happy with his counterpart. After getting up, the 32-year-old attacked Bimal aggressively and that led to an ugly fight between the players. The visuals in the middle were not good as the match was stopped for a while.
This was when Team India was already leading 1-0 in the match and by the end of the match, the Men in Blue doubled their lead. It was the second match of the tournament for India as they have sealed their place in the semi-finals with the win.
India’s match against Pakistan at the start of the tournament was also marred by controversy. India’s head coach Igor Stimac handled the ball while Pakistan’s players were throwing, leading to a brawl between the players of the two teams. The referee showed a red card to Stimac, who then insisted on repeating the same act again for his team.
Meanwhile, in the game against Nepal, India’s captain Sunil Chhetri (62nd minute) and winger Naorem Mahesh Singh (70th minute) were the goalscorers. Moreover, it was India’s fifth win in six matches. They came into the SAFF Championship having won the Intercontinental Cup and are now looking a formidable side. India will face their toughest challenge against Kuwait on Tuesday (June 27) in their final league game of the tournament.