27th of December turned out to be a Super Sunday for India as they safely advanced to the semi-final stages of the 2015 SAFF Suzuki Cup on the back of a 4-1 win over neighbours Nepal. Rowlin Borges’ solitary effort, and then a Zuala brace, helped the Blue Tigers proceed to the next stage of the tournament along with Sri Lanka.Both teams entered this match with a view to seal a victory for their side and make it to the semi-finals. This tie was pegged as a thriller right from the beginning given the win-draw-draw result graph shared by India and Nepal based on their ties this year.With one win against Nepal a few months ago, and their win over Sri Lanka in the opener, India seemed the more confident side as they entered the match with a fresh set of faces. Aiborlang Khongjee [NorthEast United FC], Subrata Paul [Mumbai City FC] and Holicharan Narzary [North East United FC] among the changes made from the previous game.Nepal would prove to be a worthy adversary in a matter of 3 minutes from kick-off. Nepalese midfielder Rohit Chand’s lobbed shot would rebound off the post only to give young-gun Bimal Magar a chance to shoot it past Subrata Paul and get Nepal up on the scoreboard early on.Under pressure, the Indian side did their best to reach parity through the efforts of Sanju Pradhan [North East United FC], Bikash Jairu [FC Pune City] and Holicharan Narzary, who enjoyed his first start today.This match turned out to be a ‘first’ of yet another kind when India managed to equalize in the 26th minute through Rowlin Borges. The Goan born player made no mistake in capitalizing on an unattended free-kick curled into the Nepalese box. Borges then drove it home to net his first goal for the Indian national team.The action, in true sense, would kick-off in the second half with the Blue Tigers unleashing a volley of goals on their neighbours. Skipper Sunil Chhetri [Mumbai City FC] would get his first goal of the tournament in the 67thminute helping India go a goal to the good.However, it was ‘Zuala time’ from then on end. The 18-year-old striker, who came on for Sanju Pradhan in the second half, caught the Nepal side off-guard and registered two excellent goals giving the home side a 4-1 win come the final whistle.The Mizoramese would become the youngest Indian footballer to score a goal for the Indian national team surpassing Captain Sunil Chhetri.The second half also brought out the ‘Spiderman’ in Subrata Paul. His timely lunges under the bar kept the hungry Nepalese attackers at bay, while helping the Tigers keep the momentum in attack.Next, India will either take on Maldives or Afghanistan in the semi-finals of the 2015 SAFF Suzuki Cup.
