Team India continued their impressive run in the SAFF Championship with a dominating 2-0 win over Nepal on Saturday (24 June). They had beaten arch-rivals Pakistan by 4-0 to start their campaign. However, the win over Nepal was marred by controversy as the players from both teams were involved in an ugly fight during the match.
The incident took place during the 64th minute of the game when India's Rahul Bheke and Nepal's Bimal Gharti Magar were in a tussle for a header. In the process, Rahul landed awkwardly and was not happy with his counterpart. After getting up, the 32-year-old charged aggressively towards Bimal and that led to the players getting involved in an ugly fight. The scenes were not good in the middle as the match was stopped for some time.
This was the time when team India was leading 1-0 already in the match and the Men in Blue ended up doubling the lead by the time the match ended. This was the second match of the tournament for India as they sealed their semi-final spot with a win as well.
India's game against Pakistan earlier in the tournament also witnessed controversy. India's head coach Igor Stimac handled the ball while the Pakistan player was throwing prompting a fight between the players of two teams. Referee showed red card to Stimac who later insisted on repeating his actions again for his team.
Meanwhile, in the game against Nepal, India skipper Sunil Chhetri (62nd minute) and winger Naorem Mahesh Singh (70th minute) were the goalscorers. Moreover, this was India's fifth win in six matches. They came into SAFF Championship having won Intercontinental Cup and are looking a strong side now. India will face their sternest challenge against Kuwait on Tuesday (June 27) in their final league game of the tournament.
