| 9:17 PM
SAG men’s football final NEPAL vs INDIA
Nepal will be looking to end the 23-year title drought in South Asian Games football competition when they cross swords with perennial rivals India at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati, India, on Monday.Nepal’s previous SA Games football gold medals came at home in 1984 with a 4-2 victory over Bangladesh and against India on penalties after a 2-2 stalemate in Dhaka in 1993. Nepal’s current coach Raju Kaji Shakya was the skipper of the side that won the gold in 1993. Having been a part of the national team in 1984, Shakya is now keen to rewrite history in a different role. “We had always wanted to defeat India in their backyard and that opportunity has knocked on our doors,” he said on the eve of the match.
India made a tentative start to their campaign with a 1-0 loss to Sri Lanka but bounced back to beat Maldives 3-2 to reach the semi-finals as group runners-up. They improved on their performance and were clinical against Bangladesh in a 3-0 victory. On the other hand, Nepal were off to a flying start, crushing Bhutan 5-0 before losing to Bangla-desh 2-1 to finish as group runners-up. Shakya’s wards squandered a 2-0 advantage against Maldives before staging one of the great comebacks to win 4-3 and secure their place in the final.
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