Maldives clinch SAFF Cup

Maldives rose to the occasion to lift the seventh South Asian Football Federation Cup for the first time in their history with a close 1-0 win over defending champions and four time winners India in the final played before a capacity crowd at the Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo yesterday after the scores read nil-all at half time.

The Maldives entered the field with one resolve to score the match winning goal and they had the better of exchanges in both halves despite missing an easy goal just before half time by Ahmed Tariq who just failed to head the ball into the net.

In a rousing game the Maldives pulled off one of their greatest victories in football when in the 87th minute Mukthar Nasser slammed in an accurate kick into the goal after a perfect pass from the left flank by Ali Ashsaq much to the jubilation of thousands of Maldivian supporters who had come all the way to witness the final.

Referee: Nafees Abdul Wahab of Malaysia.