The Indian national team lost its final SAFF Championship 2013 Group A match against hosts Nepal.

Anil Gurung (59′) and Jumanu Rai (81′) scored the goals for Nepal, while Syed Rahim Nabi hit one back for Team India.

India booked their semifinal spot courtesy to head-to-head comparision with Pakistan who won the other match in Group A 2-1 against Bangladesh.

Please scroll down for a detailed match report…

SAFF Championship 2013 | Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, Kathmandu (Nepal)
INDIA 1-2 NEPAL

GOALS
0-1 Anil Gurung (59′)
0-2 Jumanu Rai (81′)
1-2 Syed Rahim Nabi (90’+3′)

LINE-UPS

India
1 Subrata Pal – 4 Nirmal Chettri, 19 Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, 5 Arnab Mondal, 12 Nallappan Mohanraj – 14 Izumi Arata (75′ 6 Lenny Rodrigues), 7 Mehtab Hossain, 17 Jewel Raja Sheikh, 22 Syed Rahim Nabi – 10 Jeje Lalpekhlua (58′ 23 Robin Singh) – 11 Sunil Chhetri [C]

Unused Subs
Sandip Nandy, Karanjit Singh, Raju Eknath Gaikwad, Sandesh Jhingan, Dawson Fernandes, 8 Francis Fernandes, 9 Alwyn George

Nepal
13 Kiran Chemjong – 19 Sagar Thapa, 2 Rabin Shrestha, 3 Biraj Majarjan, Rohit Chand – 17 Bhola Silwal, 8 Jagjeet Shrestha (28′ Jumanu Rai), 15 Raju Tamang (66′ Bikram Lama) – 21 Bharat Khawas (89′ Bimal Gharti Magar), 13 Sandip Rai, 10 Anil Gurung

Unused Subs
Ritesh Thapa, Bishal Shrestha, Sabindra Shrestha, Sandip Rai, Prakash, Santosh Sahukhala

BOOKINGS

Yellow Cards
15′ Mehtab Hossain (India)
57′ Sunil Chhetri (India)
78′ Lenny Rodrigues (India)

Yellow-Red Cards
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Red Cards
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MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee
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Assistant Referees
…, …

Fourth Official
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Match Commissioner
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AIFF Match Report

India lost by a goal but didn’t miss their goal. Despite a 1-2 defeat to hosts Nepal in front of a 30000-odd deafening crowd at the Dasrath Stadium, India advanced to the semifinal of the SAFF Championship 2013.

India will play either Maldives or Afghanistan in the last-four. India finished second in Group A with 4 points from three matches while Nepal topped the group with 7 points from same number of outings.

In the other match of the day Pakistan defeated Bangladesh 2-1 to finish on four points. But India pipped Pakistan on Head to Head count to book a berth in the last four.

An acrobatic Syed Rahim Nabi’s brilliant side-volley in injury time did silence the home crowd but only for a short spell. Nabi met Jewel Raja Shaikh’s centre from the right to reduce the margin for India.

“We knew Nepal were a very good Team. They were quick and have some very good quality Players. They did threaten us but didn’t have clear chances in the first half,” National Coach Wim Koevermans quipped at the Post-match Press Conference.

“In the second half, we kicked long and it was easy for them to defend. I want to congratulate Nepal on their victory but at the same time, it was our aim to advance to the semis which we eventually did,” he added.

“Players need to follow plan but it didn’t really happen. We look forward to play the Fourth Final on 9th.”