Continuing its legacy the defending champions India defeated Syria to win the Nehru Cup International Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi. On Monday (August 31), India tamed Syria 5-4 through tie-breaker. Thanks to the heroics of Subrata Paul who saved as many as three penalty shots and ensured win for India.
Paul who was later declared Man of the Match, shown brilliant performance throughout the game and didn’t allow the opponent to goal easily. Following the 1-1 deadlock at the end of the regulation time, the match had been stretched to penalty and again Paul proved his brilliance at the goal post. The shots of Hamzeh Al Attouni, Wael Ayan and Ahmad Haj Muhammad were saved by Subrata Paul.
For India, Climax Lawrence, Sunil Chhetri, Steven Dias, Anwar Ali and Surkumar Singh scored goals in the shootout, while Renedy Singh and Meharajuddin Wadoo missed the goal post. On the other hand, for Syria, Raja Rafe, Mosab Balhous, Abdul Fatah Alaga and Abdul Razak Al Hussain scored.
The 20,000 capacity Ambedkar Stadium was packed and many prominent personalities were present including film actor Salman Khan. The 120 minutes of the game was full of enjoyment and the crowd was cheering the home team at the fullest. As Paul saved the last penalty of the Syrians, people ran into the ground to celebrate the victory.
It was second consecutive win for India in Nehru Cup. In the year 2007 India had won the tournament for the first time against the same opponent Syria. Established in the year 1982 to honour the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, the tournament is a mega football tournament of the country. Ironically, Bob Houghton has been the coach of the team in both the tournaments. Besides Nehru Cup, India has also won AFC Challenge Cup in supervision of Bob Houghton. With the two consecutive wins, India has leaped forward in the world football. Hope the team would get more success in the coming time.
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