India beats Maldives, Nepal defeats Pakistan in SAFF championship

COLOMBO, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Defending champions India beat Maldives 1-0 while Pakistan was beaten by Nepal 4-1 in their last group A stage of the 7th South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in the Maldivian capital of Male Saturday night, SAFF officials said Sunday in Colombo.

India took the lead in the first half through Gourmangi Singh who broke the deadlock heading the cross on the goal line of the Maldives in the 14th minute. Both teams failed to add scores in the second half.

In another match held in Male, Pakistan was beaten by Nepal 4-1. Raju Tamang, Niranjan Rayajhi and Jumanu Rai were the heroes of Nepal, where the latter scored twice.

Since Maldives finished group A behind leaders India, it is likely to be traveling to Sri Lanka to play the semifinals on Wednesday.

In group B, Bangladesh will meet Sri Lanka on Sunday which will decide the semifinalists for this group. Afganistan will have to beat Butan to get qualified and more goals for them will help them to qualify as the group champion.

The championship, co-hosted by Sri Lanka and the Maldives, is due to conclude with the final in Colombo on June 14.

The winners are to carry away the SAFF Championship Cup and a purse worth 50,000 U.S. dollars, while the runners-up get 25,000 dollars and the two losing semifinalists will be awarded 10,000 dollars each.