2007 Nehru Cup

The 2007 Nehru Cup International Football Tournament also known as the ONGC Nehru Cup due to the competition's sponsorship by ONGC, was the 13th edition of the Nehru Cup a tournament organized by the All India Football Federation since 1982.[1] It was the first Nehru Cup after a ten-year break from 1997 to 2007.[2]

2007 ONGC Nehru Cup
Tournament details
Host countryIndia
Dates17–29 August
Teams5 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions India (1st title)
Runners-up Syria
Tournament statistics
Matches played11
Goals scored41 (3.73 per match)
Top scorer(s) Zyad Chaabo (5 goals)

The tournament was played in the round-robin league format and the final was slated for 29 August in which India defeated Syria to claim its first title.[3] Along with the host nation India, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Syria and Kyrgyzstan also competed in the 13-day tournament at the refurbished Ambedkar Stadium, where new floodlights had been put up specially for this tournament.[4][5]

The total prize money of the tournament was $100,000. The champion team takes away a prize of $40,000, the runners-up receive $20,000 while the third place team will get $10,000. The winning team of every match received $2,500.[6]

Discussion

The Nehru Cup campaign started with an Indian 6–0 victory over the less experienced Cambodian side. India's Sunil Chhetri and Steven Dias had a great game, each of them netting twice. Baichung Bhutia had produced a wonderful performance in the match. Most of the game was played on the Cambodian side of the pitch. It was expected that India was going to take this one and they did with their second biggest recorded victory. Steven Dias was "Man of the match".

2007 ONGC Nehru Cup India vs Syria

Syria started this tournament with a 2–0 victory over Bangladesh, followed by three consecutive wins over Kyrgyzstan, hosts India and Cambodia. The four wins saw Syria topping the round-roubin standings with a perfect record of 12 out of 12 points. They experienced Syrian side was led by their best goalscorers Zyad Chaabo, who scored 5 out of 14 goals for his team and Maher Al Sayed with four goals.

Hosts India, after beating Cambodia, enjoyed another win over neighbouring Bangladesh. After losing to Syria, the decisive game for the second final spot was held between the Indian team and Kyrgyzstan. India won that game 3–0 and advanced. The goals were scored by the Indian forwards Baichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri and Abhishek Yadav. This defeat saw the Central Asian side finishing third, while Bangladesh and Cambodia finished fourth and fifth place respectively having played a 1 all draw in their game.

The Nehru Cup final between India and Syria was held on 29 August 2007 in New Delhi. India defeated their opponents 1–0 thanks to a goal from N. P. Pradeep and won their first ever Nehru Cup trophy. The Indian team received 40,000 US-Dollar for winning this tournament.

All games of the tournament were broadcast live by Zee Sports.[7]

Matches and results

Group stage

Teams in green field progress to the Final.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Syria 4 4 0 0 14 4 +10 12
 India 4 3 0 1 12 3 +9 9
 Kyrgyzstan 4 2 0 2 8 10 −2 6
 Bangladesh 4 0 1 3 1 7 −6 1
 Cambodia 4 0 1 3 5 16 −11 1
Source:
India 6–0 Cambodia
Pradeep  16'
Bhutia  45+2' (pen.)
Dias  72 ',  89'
Chhetri  82 ',  84'		  
Referee: Kamkanamge (Sri Lanka)
Bangladesh 0–2 Syria
  Al Sayed  48'
Chaabo  79'
Referee: Arjunan (India)
Kyrgyzstan 4–3 Cambodia
Samsaliev  12'
Mamatov  17'
Djamshidov  48'
Harchenko  65'		 Sotitya  34'
Rithy  40'
Chum  43'
Referee: Suresh (India)
India 1–0 Bangladesh
Bhutia  5'  
Referee: Surendra (Nepal)
Syria 4–1 Kyrgyzstan
Al Sayed  7'
Chaabo  44'
Al Zeno  70'
Al Hasan  82'		 Diab  13' (o.g.)
Referee: Suresh (India)
Bangladesh 1–1 Cambodia
Abul Hussain  30' Kasal  90'
Referee: Arjunan (India)
India 2–3 Syria
Chhetri  13'
Ajayan  81'		 Al Baba  23'
Chaabo  45+1 ',  65'
Referee: Surendra (Nepal)
Bangladesh 0–3 Kyrgyzstan
  Lutfullaev  28 ',  54'
Djamshidov  57'
Referee: Suresh (India)
Cambodia 1–5 Syria
Vathanak  69' Al Zeno  25'
Chaabo  35'
Al Sayed  51 ',  86'
Jenyat  80'
Referee: Kamkanamge (Sri Lanka)
India 3–0 Kyrgyzstan
Bhutia  39'
Chhetri  60'
Yadav  90+3'		  
Referee: Surendra (Nepal)

Final
India 1–0 Syria
Pradeep  44'  
Referee: Surendra (Nepal)

Winner
 Nehru Cup 2007 Champion 

India
First title

Goalscorers
  • A view of match
  • The captain of Indian Football team, Bhaichung Bhutia celebrating along with other players after winning the final
  • Priyaranjan Dasmunsi and the footballer, Sunil Chetri along with other players celebrating after winning the final

Man of the Match

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 May 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "ONGC revives Nehru Cup after 10 years". ONGC. 9 August 2007.
  3. "India script history, lift Nehru Cup for first time". 30 August 2007. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 August 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2007.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 November 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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