Afghan footballers return home to rousing welcome

KABUL football squad on Monday returned home to a warm welcome from New Delhi after losing to India the hotly-contested final of the South Asia Football Federation (SAFF) Cup.

Hundreds of soccer fans, including women and children, accorded a rousing welcome to the national team that lost 2-1 to the hosts at the Trivandrum International Stadium on Sunday.

Zubair Amiri put Afghanistan in front in the 70th minute before Jeje Lalpekhlua (72^nd minute) put India back in the game.The finalists were locked 1-1 after the regulation 90 minutes.

India’s Sunil Chhetri scored the decisive goal in the 11th minute of extra-time when he capitalised on a defensive lapse by the visitors.Afghanistan, the defending champions, had defeated India 2-0 in the final of the last edition in Kathmandu in 2013.

Afghanistan, which defeated Sri Lanka 5-0 to advance to the final, were expected to outplay India. The championship is held every two years. India had beaten Afghanistan in 2011.

Earlier in the championship, the Afghan defeated Bangladesh 4-0, Bhutan 3-0 and the Maldives 4-1.The Afghans scored 16 goals and conceded only one in their pool matches and topped the table in its group.

nh/mud

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