Captain Sunil Chhetri scored again as India defeated Nepal 2-0 in their second group encounter to get to the SAFF Championship semifinals on Saturday. Chhetri (61st minute) scored his fourth goal of the tournament before Mahesh Singh (70th minute) sealed the victory for the home team. In their first match, India defeated Pakistan 4-0 on Wednesday, with Chhetri scoring a hat-trick.
Chhetri (91 goals in 139 matches) had already surpassed Ali Daei of Iran as the second most prolific scorer among Asians, and third among active players worldwide. Among active Asian players, he is the most prolific goal scorer. India advanced for the semifinals from Group A with six points from two wins, along with Kuwait (also six points), who thrashed Pakistan 4-0 earlier in the day for their second victory.
On June 27, India will play Kuwait to determine the group champion. Nepal and Pakistan are out of contention for a semifinal position after each team dropped two games. Before India could break the deadlock, they had to overcome a heavy resistance from Nepal. Only Chhetri, Anirudh Thapa, and Sahal Abdul Samad retained their spots in the starting 11 from the previous match against Pakistan, indicating that India was undergoing significant changes.
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