India beats Maldives 1-0, enters final

India has won 1-0 against the Maldives in the semi-final match of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship 2013, and moved to the final.

The match kicked off at 5:45 p.m. (local time) at Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Neither team could score in the first half, in spite of two free kicks for Maldives taken by Ali Ashfag and Mohamed Umair near India’s goal area.

India’s only goal was scored by Arnab Mondal in the 85th minute.

Ashfag was given a yellow card in the second half for diving in India’s penalty area. By the end of the game, India had 20 fouls while Maldives had 5.

With this win, India will meet Afghanistan in the final match on Wednesday, 11 September.