By Krishanu Sarma – June 12, 2022
On Saturday 11th June the two Asian Giants, India, and Afghanistan faced each other in a high voltage football match in Saltlake Stadium, Kolkata where the host defeated the visitors 2-1 and went an inch closer to qualifying for the AFC cup 2024
Immense pressure on the home team proved fruitful in the end as India sealed the game by winning against Afghanistan on a 2-1 scoreline at salt lake stadium Kolkata. Being second on the tables there were lots of expectations on the blue tigers and they didn’t let the crowd down. After a vital 2-0 win over Cambodia in front of home fans, the Indians came to this match with lots of confidence, which helped them beat Afghanistan 2-0 in the Salt Lake Stadium Kolkata.
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In a thrilling match between both the teams, it was two late goals from captain Sunil Chettri and winger Sahal Abdul Samad that helped the host seal the deal in Kolkata. Both the teams showed class in their defence till the 85th minute but it was the last 5 minutes of the match that brought the fans to their feet when the Indian captain scored a sensational freekick in the 86th minute of the game. In the 88th minute of the game, Zubayr Amiri of Afghanistan scored the equalizer and brought them back to the game.
Afghanistan’s happiness didn’t last long as Sahal Abdul Samad sealed the game for India with a brilliant goal in injury time. Ashique played a key role for India in this victory, as he created several chances in the game for the men in blue and it was his efforts that didn’t allow the Afghan defence to settle properly. The win against Afghanistan made India’s chances for qualification more strong and certain.
Head to Head record of India vs Afghanistan:
India who is ranked 106th and Afghanistan 150th have faced each other 16 times including today’s match out of which India won 10 times and Afghanistan won only on one occasion, and 5 matches have ended in a draw.
The men in blue have scored 33 goals and the Afghans have scored 8. The teams met for the 1st time in the semi-final of the Asian Games which was held in New Delhi. The host defeated the visitors with a big margin of 3-0 where Pansanttom Venkatesh, Sheoo Mewalal, and Santosh Nandi scored the goals.
The last time both teams met, it was a 1-1 draw where both the goals were scored by Afghanistan among which one was a suicide goal. Ovays Aziz was the one who scored his own goal and the other goal was scored by Hossein Zamani.
India’s last five matches before coming to this match :
Defeated Cambodia 2-0
: Lost to Jordan 0-2
: Lost to Belarus 0-3
: Lost to Bahrain 1-2
: Defeated Nepal 3-0
Afghanistan’s last five matches before coming to this match:
Lost to Hong Kong 1-2
: Lost to Vietnam 0-2
: Lost to Jordan 0-1
: Defeated Kuwait 3-0
: Draw with India 1-1
History Of Asian Cup:
The Asian Cup takes place every four years and is one of the continent’s premier football tournaments. The competition is organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) which started in 1956, with South Korea being the 1st champion.
The 1st edition of the tournament took place in Hong Kong and 12 countries participated in it. Thereafter the tournament was organized every four years, with an exception in 2007 when the quadrennial cycle moved forward one year. The most successful team in the competition is Japan with 4 titles in their bag, followed by Iran and Saudi Arabia who have three titles each.
