India vs Afghanistan - sportstiger

Picture Credit: Twitter

The AFC Asian Cup Qualifier match was a close-fought contest between India and Afghanistan played on Saturday at the VYBK Stadium in Kolkata. The two teams fought an intense battle till the last minute with India emerging victorious in the end. With a win in the bag, the Men in Blue were delighted as much as possible while the Afghanistan players were rueing that last-minute goal they could not stop, and this frustration came out in form of a physical altercation after the match.

After India finished on the winning side and both teams’ players were walking back to their respective rooms, a physical fight between them took place. In a video widely being shared on the social media platforms, two Indian players and three Afghanistan players are seen starting a verbal fight which escalated really quickly and took the form of a physical fight. What started with pushing and shoving ended with a brawl.

With none of the five individuals taking a back seat, Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh tried hard to pacify the players from both sides, but he too was pushed by the Afghanistan players. In no time, almost all players from both teams were on the ground pushing and shoving their opponents. Even the AFC officials could be seen struggling hard to stop the altercation.

Watch the video here:

Although the video was shared widely, what triggered this ugly altercation between the two teams is yet to be revealed. The organizing committee of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers has also not said anything about the incident.

Abdul Samad pulls the heist

Coming to the match, both teams showed some great resistance when it came to conceding goals as the first of the match was scored in the 85th minute. India captain Sunil Chhetri yet again proved his worth with a swirling free-kick goal that gave India an opening. However, Zubayr Amiri’s free header in the 88th minute leveled the score for the Lions of Khorasan.

With the match taking an interesting turn in the last minutes, a special effort was required from either of the teams if they had to win. Fortunately for India, it was Sahal Abdul Samad with his prolific strike (90+2') to put an end to an intense battle with the score line (2-1) in India’s favor. This win over Afghanistan ensured India remain close to Hong Kong in the points table.