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Afghanistan wins first international football trophy following win over India

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ANI London
Last Updated : Sep 12 2013 | 10:10 AM IST

Afghanistan has defeated India 2-0 in the South Asian Football Federation Championship final at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu on Wednesday to win its first international football trophy.

Afghanistan has only recently re-emerged on the world football scene after decades of war and insurgency.

According to the BBC, although defending champions India, ranked 145th in the world as compared to Afghanistan's 139th, did their best to dominate and equalize, they missed several good opportunities, adding that the Afghan defence and its goalkeeper proved too smart for the Indian forwards.

The report mentioned that the win is a dream come true for Afghanistan, which suffered a humiliating 4-0 loss to India, which has won the event six times, when the two sides met in the 2011 final in Delhi.

Following the win, the report said that celebratory gunfire rang out around Kabul as people celebrated the win given that the game was severely restricted in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban from 1996 to 2001.

The report also mentioned that football stadiums were often used by the Islamist movement to stage public executions and forced amputations.

Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives and hosts Nepal were the other teams to take part in the tournament, which is held every two years, the report added.

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First Published: Sep 12 2013 | 10:05 AM IST

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