2013 SAFF Championship Final: India Loses to Afghanistan 0-2

It was Afghanistan's first SAFF championship and they really deserve it. India played well and ended up having many shots on goal but couldn't convert them into goals. Afghanistan played an intelligent game and had great counter attacks for India's missed opportunities.

India won the last two SAFF championships and we just didn't have the firepower to pull of a hat-trick, our team needs to improve more on defense and play smarter football going forward. It is exciting to see a new force rising in South Asia to form a rivalry against India. Good competition is not a bad thing, it will foster rivalries and improve India's footballing quality and South Asia as a whole.

Congrats to Afghanistan, it just wasn't India's turn this time and it certainly won't be the last opportunity. 

India vs. Afghanistan LIVE STREAMING

Click on the link bellow to watch the game live on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn6rsevceiA#t=3512

Afghanistan leads India 2-0.

Wrestling Reinstated Into 2020 Tokyo Olympics

All the wrestling fraternity and wrestling fans from India are elated about the fact that IOC brought back Wrestling into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Over the last two Olympic events India rode a lot of its hopes on the sport of wrestling for winning medals. India won 3 medals in wrestling over the last two Olympic Events. The medal count might not seem like it is a lot but they do mean a lot for the sport of wrestling in India.

Sushil Kumar, who won a Bronze medal in 2008 Beijing Olympics and a Silver medal in 2012 London Olympics is a national hero. Yogeshwar Dutt, who won a Bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics is someone millions of Indian children look up to for inspiration. There is a clear increase in the number of kids taking up wrestling as a sport in India. Many kids in India dream of achieving what Sushil and Yogeshwar have done. It would have been a disaster for the sport of wrestling in India if wresting got snubbed from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Anyways, a disaster was averted! Thank you IOC for waking up and reinstating wrestling as an Olympic sport.

Here is Sushil Kumar's reaction:

India Beats Maldives To Reach 2013 SAFF Final

Contrary to everyone's expectations, India ended up defeating a stronger Maldives team. Sunil Chhetri (C) wasn't able to play in the semi-final because he got double booked with yellow cards in the prior games of the tournament. With out Chhetri the Indian team was deflated and judging by how strong Maldives' performance was and how weak India's performance was in the prior games of this tournament it was hard to imagine India winning the match.

The final score was 1-0 in India's favor. Arnab Mondal, the Indian Center Back, was the one who scored the game winning goal in the 86th minute. It was Mondal's first International goal, the 23 year old lad scored it at a crucial moment of his national team.

Here is the goal scored by Arnab Mondal:

You can watch the complete India vs. Maldives match here:

This game is a great confidence booster for the Indian side. They will be facing off against Afghanistan in the finals of the tournament. Afghanistan is the highest FIFA ranked team in South Asia (139th) and it will be a tough match for India. The final is scheduled to be played on September 11th. I will keep you updated about the outcome of that match-up.