2015 SAFF Championship

{{short description|Football tournament between SAFF member states}}

{{Infobox international football competition

| tourney_name = 2015 SAFF Championship

| other_titles = 2015 SAFF Suzuki Cup

| image = 2015SAFFSuzukiCuplogo.png

| size = 200px

| caption = 2015 SAFF Championship official logo

| country = India

| dates = {{nowrap|23 December 2015 – 3 January 2016}}

| num_teams = 7

|confederations= 1

| venues = 1

| champion = IND

| count = 7

| second = AFG

| second-flagvar = 2013

| cities = 1

| matches = 12

| goals = 44

| attendance =

| top_scorer = {{flagicon|AFG|2013}} Khaibar Amani (4 goals)

| player = {{flagicon|IND}} Sunil Chhetri

| young_player =

| goalkeeper =

| fair_play =

| prevseason = 2013

| nextseason = 2018

}}

The 2015 SAFF Championship (officially known as the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2015 for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's football championship of South Asia organized by SAFF. It was held in India from 23 December 2015 to 3 January 2016.{{cite news|last1=Chaudhuri|first1=Arunava|title=Trivandrum will host upcoming SAFF Cup in December 2015/January 2016|url=http://www.sportskeeda.com/football/trivandrum-will-host-upcoming-saff-cup-in-december-2015january-2016|access-date=22 December 2015|work=SportsKeeda|date=2 July 2015}}

Heading into the tournament, Afghanistan were the defending champions after defeating India in the final, with it also being the last time the team officially participated, as they become members of the newly formed Central Asian Football Association.{{cite news|title=Afghanistan FA Secretary General Sayed Alireza Aghazada: This is our last Participation in SAFF Championship|url=http://www.goalnepal.com/news.php?id=23372/|access-date=22 December 2015|work=GoalNepal|date=23 February 2015}}

Originally scheduled to take place in July 2015, monsoon season and schedule congestion led to the tournament being postponed to late December. The tournament saw no participation from Pakistan, who withdrew from the tournament in November 2015 due a dispute within the nation's football federation.{{cite news|title=Pakistan Withdraw From SAFF Cup Football in Kerala|url=http://sports.ndtv.com/football/news/252155-pakistan-withdraw-from-saff-cup-football-in-kerala|access-date=22 December 2015|work=NDTV Sports|date=23 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208062100/http://sports.ndtv.com/football/news/252155-pakistan-withdraw-from-saff-cup-football-in-kerala|archive-date=8 December 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

India was chosen as the host nation on 10 September 2013 with the host venue to be decided between Delhi and Kerala.{{cite news|title=India to host 2015 SAFF Cup|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/India-to-host-2015-SAFF-Cup/articleshow/22464172.cms|access-date=22 December 2015|work=Times of India|date=10 September 2013}} In July 2015, it was announced that matches during the tournament would be held at the Trivandrum International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This is the third time in which India has hosted the tournament, when it was known as the Gold Cup in 1999 and under the current name in 2011.

Participating nations

Apart from hosts India, six other South Asian nations participated in the tournament, with Pakistan being the only nation not participating. There was no reason cited by the PFF but issues with the federation's elections have forced the courts to prohibit any activities.{{cite web|url=http://sports.ndtv.com/football/news/252155-pakistan-withdraw-from-saff-cup-football-in-kerala|title=Pak withdraw from SAFF|website=NDTV Sports|access-date=3 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208062100/http://sports.ndtv.com/football/news/252155-pakistan-withdraw-from-saff-cup-football-in-kerala|archive-date=8 December 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

Image:2015 SAFF Championship participating countries.PNG

style="width:160px;"\|Country ! style="width:100px;"\|Appearance ! style="width:300px;"\|Previous best performance ! FIFA ranking Dec 2015
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left;"
{{fb\|IND}} (Host)	align=center\|11th	Champions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011)	align=center\|166
{{fb\|AFG\|2013}}	align=center\|8th	Champions (2013)	align=center\|150
{{fb\|BAN}}	align=center\|10th	Champions (2003)	align=center\|182
{{fb\|BHU}}	align=center\|7th	Semi-finals (2008)	align=center\|188
{{fb\|MDV}}	align=center\|9th	Champions (2008)	align=center\|160
{{fb\|NEP}}	align=center\|11th	Third-place (1993)	align=center\|192
{{fb\|SRI}}	align=center\|11th	Champions (1995)	align=center\|194

Venue

On 2 July 2015, it was announced that the matches during the tournament would take place at the newly constructed Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.[https://www.thedailystar.net/sports/football/india-win-2015-saff-championship-title-196444 India win 2015 SAFF Championship title] thedailystar.net. Retrieved 22 August 2021

Thiruvananthapuram \|rowspan="4"\| {{location map+\|India\|float=center\|width=250\|caption=\|places= {{location map~\|India\|lat=8.566667\|long=76.883333\|label=Thiruvananthapuram\|position=top}} }}
class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center"
Trivandrum International Stadium
Capacity: 50,000
200px

Squads

Broadcasting

The tournament was broadcast live in India on STAR Sports 4, Kantipur Television Network in Nepal, Lemar TV and Tolo TV in Afghanistan. Gazi TV in Bangladesh, Bhutan Broadcasting Service in Bhutan and Television Maldives in Maldives. Every match was broadcast live on YouTube.{{cite news|title=TV Channels Broadcasting SAFF Championship 2015 Live Coverage|url=http://www.sportscola.com/tv-channels-broadcasting-saff-championship-2015-live-coverage/|access-date=22 December 2015|work=SportsCola|date=5 December 2015}}

Group stage

All times are local, IST (UTC+5:30).

=Group A=

{{#invoke:Sports table|main|style=WDL

|section=Group A

|teamwidth = 180

|update=complete

|source=[https://int.soccerway.com/international/asia/south-asian-football-federation-championship/2015-india/group-stage/group-a/g8931/ soccerway.com]

|team1=IND |team3=NEP |team2=SRI

|result1=KO |result2=KO

|name_IND={{fb|IND}}

|name_NEP={{fb|NEP}}

|name_SRI={{fb|SRI}}

|res_col_header=Status

|col_KO=green1 |text_KO=Qualified for semi-finals

}}

{{Football box

|date={{Start date|2015|12|23|df=y}}

|time=18:30

|team1={{fb-rt|NEP}}

|score=0–1

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063028/http://www.saffsuzukicup.com/news/match-report-nepal-0-1-sri-lanka Report]

|team2={{fb|SRI}}

|goals1=

|goals2= Rifnas {{goal|90+5}}

|stadium=Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

|attendance=200

|referee= Jameel Juma Abdulhusain (Bahrain)

}}

----

{{Football box

|date={{Start date|2015|12|25|df=y}}

|time=18:30

|team1={{fb-rt|SRI}}

|score=0–2

|report= [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062943/http://www.saffsuzukicup.com/news/match-report-sri-lanka-0-2-india Report]

|team2={{fb|IND}}

|goals1=

|goals2= Singh {{goal|51||73}}

|stadium=Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

|attendance=6,417

|referee= Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

}}

----

{{Football box

|date={{Start date|2015|12|27|df=y}}

|time=18:30

|team1={{fb-rt|IND}}

|score=4–1

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160312071027/http://www.saffsuzukicup.com/news/match-report-india-4-1-nepal Report]

|team2={{fb|NEP}}

|goals1=Borges {{goal|26}}
Chhetri {{goal|68}}
Chhangte {{goal|81||90}}

|goals2=Magar {{goal|3}}

|stadium=Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

|attendance=8,093

|referee= Jameel Juma Abdulhusain (Bahrain)

}}

=Group B=

{{#invoke:Sports table|main|style=WDL

|section=Group B

|teamwidth = 180

|update=complete

|source=[https://int.soccerway.com/international/asia/south-asian-football-federation-championship/2015-india/group-stage/group-b/g8932/ soccerway.com]

|team1=AFG |team2=MDV |team3=BAN |team4=BHU

|result1=KO |result2=KO

|name_AFG={{fb|AFG|2013}}

|name_MDV={{fb|MDV}}

|name_BAN={{fb|BAN}}

|name_BHU={{fb|BHU}}

|res_col_header=Status

|col_KO=green1 |text_KO=Qualified for semi-finals

}}

{{Football box

|date={{Start date|2015|12|24|df=y}}

|time=15:30

|team1={{fb-rt|MDV}}

|score=3–1

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062956/http://www.saffsuzukicup.com/news/match-report-maldives-3-1-bhutan Report]

|team2={{fb|BHU}}

|goals1=Imaz {{goal|9}}
Abdulla {{goal|31}}
Ashfaq {{goal|70}}

|goals2=Dorji {{goal|20}}

|stadium=Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

|attendance=4,000

|referee= Sudish Pandey (Nepal)

}}

{{Football box

|date={{Start date|2015|12|24|df=y}}

|time=18:30

|team1={{fb-rt|AFG|2013}}

|score=4–0

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063034/http://www.saffsuzukicup.com/news/match-report-afghanistan-4-0-bangladesh Report]

|team2={{fb|BAN}}

|goals1=Saighani {{goal|30}}
Shayesteh {{goal|32}}
Amiri {{goal|40}}
Amani {{goal|69}}

|goals2=

|stadium=Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

|attendance=150

|referee=Pranjal Banerjee (India)

}}

----

{{Football box

|date={{Start date|2015|12|26|df=y}}

|time=15:30

|team1={{fb-rt|BAN}}

|score=1–3

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001954/http://www.saffsuzukicup.com/news/match-report-bangladesh-1-3-maldives Report]

|team2={{fb|MDV}}

|goals1=Biswas {{goal|86}}

|goals2=Ashfaq {{goal|42|pen.}}
Hassan {{goal|90}}
Nashid {{goal|90+5}}

|stadium=Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

|attendance=3,654

|referee=Võ Minh Trí (Vietnam)

}}

{{Football box

|date={{Start date|2015|12|26|df=y}}

|time=18:30

|team1={{fb-rt|BHU}}

|score= 0–3

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002559/http://www.saffsuzukicup.com/news/report-bhutan-0-3-afghanistan Report]

|team2={{fb|AFG|2013}}

|goals1=

|goals2=Amani {{goal|14||51}}
Saighani {{goal|42}}

|stadium=Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

|attendance=1,817

|referee= Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

}}

----

{{Football box

|date={{Start date|2015|12|28|df=y}}

|time=15:30

|team1={{fb-rt|BHU}}

|score=0–3

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063015/http://www.saffsuzukicup.com/news/match-report-bhutan-0-3-bangladesh Report]

|team2={{fb|BAN}}

|goals1=

|goals2=Barman {{goal|8}}
Rony {{goal|24|pen.|67}}

|stadium=Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

|attendance=218

|referee=Pranjal Banerjee (India)

}}

{{Football box

|date={{Start date|2015|12|28|df=y}}

|time=18:30

|team1={{fb-rt|AFG|2013}}

|score=4–1

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160317000132/http://www.saffsuzukicup.com/news/report-afghanistan-4-1-maldives Report]

|team2={{fb|MDV}}

|goals1=Shayesteh {{goal|20}}
Popalzay {{goal|34||54}}
Hatifi {{goal|51}}

|goals2=Fasir {{goal|32}}

|goals3=

|stadium=Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

|attendance=1,751

|referee= Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

}}

Knockout phase

=Bracket=

{{#invoke:RoundN|main|columns=2|bold_winner=high

|31 Dec – Thiruvananthapuram|{{fb|IND}}|3|{{fb|MDV}}|2

|31 Dec – Thiruvananthapuram|{{fb|AFG|2013}}|5|{{fb|SRI}}|0

|3 Jan – Thiruvananthapuram|{{fb|IND}} {{aet}}|2|{{fb|AFG|2013}}|1

}}

=Semi-finals=

{{Football box

|date={{Start date|2015|12|31|df=y}}

|time=15:30

|team1={{fb-rt|IND}}

|score=3–2

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063009/http://www.saffsuzukicup.com/news/match-report-india-3-2-maldives Report]

|team2={{fb|MDV}}

|goals1=Chhetri {{goal|25}}
Lalpekhlua {{goal|34||66}}

|goals2=Nashid {{goal|45+2}}
Amdhan Ali {{goal|75}}

|stadium=Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

|attendance=31,716

|referee=Võ Minh Trí (Vietnam)

}}

----

{{Football box

|date={{Start date|2015|12|31|df=y}}

|time=18:30

|team1={{fb-rt|AFG|2013}}

|score=5–0

|report=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003143/http://www.saffsuzukicup.com/news/match-report-afghanistan-5-0-sri-lanka Report]

|team2={{fb|SRI}}

|goals1=Hashemi {{goal|45+1}}
Taher {{goal|50}}
Amani {{goal|56|pen.}}
Hatifi {{goal|78}}
Shayesteh {{goal|89}}

|goals2=

|stadium=Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

|attendance= 300

|referee=Sudhish Pandey (Nepal)

}}

=Final=

{{Football box

|date={{Start date|2016|1|3|df=y}}

|time=18:30

|team1={{fb-rt|IND}}

|score=2–1

|aet=yes

|report= [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001617/http://www.saffsuzukicup.com/news/match-report-india-2-1-afghanistan Report]

|team2={{fb|AFG|2013}}

|goals1= Lalpekhlua {{goal|72}}
Chhetri {{goal|101}}

|goals2= Amiri {{goal|70}}

|stadium=Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

|attendance=40,500

|referee= Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

}}

Champion

Awards

The following awards were given for the 2015 SAFF Championship.{{cite web|title=Video of the award presentation|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIKy5G1fwUs#t=3h4m10s|work=YouTube|access-date=3 January 2016}}

class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"

!colspan="3"| Fair Play Award

!colspan="3"| Most Valuable Player

!colspan="3"| Golden Boot Award

colspan="3" align="center"|{{fb|MDV}}

|colspan="3" align="center"|{{flagicon|IND}} Sunil Chhetri

|colspan="3" align="center"|{{flagicon|AFG|2013}} Khaibar Amani

Goalscorers

; 4 goals

{{flagicon|AFG|2013}} Khaibar Amani

; 3 goals

{{flagicon|AFG|2013}} Faysal Shayesteh
{{flagicon|IND}} Jeje Lalpekhlua
{{flagicon|IND}} Sunil Chhetri

; 2 goals

{{flagicon|AFG|2013}} Masih Saighani
{{flagicon|AFG|2013}} Omid Popalzay
{{flagicon|AFG|2013}} Ahmad Hatifi
{{flagicon|BAN}} Shakhawat Hossain Rony
{{flagicon|IND}} Lallianzuala Chhangte
{{flagicon|IND}} Robin Singh
{{flagicon|MDV}} Ali Ashfaq
{{flagicon|MDV}} Ahmed Nashid

; 1 goal

{{flagicon|AFG|2013}} Zubayr Amiri
{{flagicon|AFG|2013}} Sayed Mohammad Hashemi
{{flagicon|AFG|2013}} Kanischka Taher
{{flagicon|BAN}} Hemanta Vincent Biswas
{{flagicon|BAN}} Topu Barman
{{flagicon|BHU}} Tshering Dorji
{{flagicon|IND}} Rowllin Borges
{{flagicon|NEP}} Bimal Magar
{{flagicon|MDV}} Ahmed Imaz
{{flagicon|MDV}} Asadhulla Abdulla
{{flagicon|MDV}} Amdhan Ali
{{flagicon|MDV}} Naiz Hassan
{{flagicon|SRI}} Mohamed Rifnas

Team statistics

This table shows all team performance.

width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|Pos\|Position}} !width="165"\|Team !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|Pld\|Played}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|W\|Won}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|D\|Drawn}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|L\|Lost}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|GF\|Goals for}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|GA\|Goals against}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|GD\|Goal difference}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|Pts\|Points}}
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
colspan=10\|Final
style="background:#FFD700;" \|1	align=left\|{{fb\|IND}} \|4	4	0	0	11	4	+7	12
style="background:#C0C0C0;" \|2	align=left\|{{fb\|AFG\|2013}} \|5	4	0	1	17	3	+14	12
colspan=10\|Semi-finals
3	align=left\|{{fb\|MDV}} \|4	2	0	2	9	9	0	6
4	align=left\|{{fb\|SRI}} \|3	1	0	2	1	7\|
6	3
colspan=10\|Eliminated in the group stage
5	align=left\|{{fb\|BAN}} \|3	1	0	2	4	7	−3	3
6	align=left\|{{fb\|NEP}} \|2	0	0	2	1	5	−4	0
7	align=left\|{{fb\|BHU}} \|3	0	0	3	1	9	−8	0

Source:{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/saffgold2015.html|title=South Asian Championship 2015/16 (Trivandrum)|access-date=11 December 2021}}

Controversies

During the first match of the tournament, both Sri Lanka and Nepal were wearing the same dark red jersey in the first half before Nepal changed into their blue second-kit for the second half.

Sponsorship

On 14 September 2015 it was announced that Suzuki would be the title sponsor of the SAFF Championship for 2015.{{cite news|title=Suzuki Motor Corporation to sponsor SAFF Football Championship 2015|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/football/top-stories/Suzuki-Motor-Corporation-to-sponsor-SAFF-Football-Championship-2015/articleshow/48956242.cms|access-date=22 December 2015|work=Times of India|date=14 September 2015}}

References

External links

[http://saffsuzukicup.com Official Site]

Category:2015 SAFF Championship

Category:2015 in Asian football

Category:2015–16 in Indian football

Category:SAFF Championship

Category:International association football competitions hosted by India

Category:Suzuki

style="width:160px;"\|Country ! style="width:100px;"\|Appearance ! style="width:300px;"\|Previous best performance ! FIFA ranking Dec 2015
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left;"
{{fb\|IND}} (Host)	align=center\|11th	Champions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011)	align=center\|166
{{fb\|AFG\|2013}}	align=center\|8th	Champions (2013)	align=center\|150
{{fb\|BAN}}	align=center\|10th	Champions (2003)	align=center\|182
{{fb\|BHU}}	align=center\|7th	Semi-finals (2008)	align=center\|188
{{fb\|MDV}}	align=center\|9th	Champions (2008)	align=center\|160
{{fb\|NEP}}	align=center\|11th	Third-place (1993)	align=center\|192
{{fb\|SRI}}	align=center\|11th	Champions (1995)	align=center\|194

width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|Pos\|Position}} !width="165"\|Team !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|Pld\|Played}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|W\|Won}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|D\|Drawn}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|L\|Lost}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|GF\|Goals for}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|GA\|Goals against}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|GD\|Goal difference}} !width="25"\|{{Tooltip\|Pts\|Points}}
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
colspan=10\|Final
style="background:#FFD700;" \|1	align=left\|{{fb\|IND}} \|4	4	0	0	11	4	+7	12
style="background:#C0C0C0;" \|2	align=left\|{{fb\|AFG\|2013}} \|5	4	0	1	17	3	+14	12
colspan=10\|Semi-finals
3	align=left\|{{fb\|MDV}} \|4	2	0	2	9	9	0	6
4	align=left\|{{fb\|SRI}} \|3	1	0	2	1	7\|
6	3
colspan=10\|Eliminated in the group stage
5	align=left\|{{fb\|BAN}} \|3	1	0	2	4	7	−3	3
6	align=left\|{{fb\|NEP}} \|2	0	0	2	1	5	−4	0
7	align=left\|{{fb\|BHU}} \|3	0	0	3	1	9	−8	0