2003 SAFF Gold Cup

The 2003 SAFF Gold Cup was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh between 10 January 2003 and 20 January 2003. All matches were played at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. Originally scheduled to be held between 26 January 2002 and 5 February 2002, the tournament was postponed due to the suspension of Bangladesh Football Federation by FIFA. Afghanistan were not in the draw, but were included in the tournament following an AFC recommendation to do so. It was also Bhutan's first tournament.^[2]

2003 SAFF Gold Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Bangladesh
Dates	10–20 January
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Bangladesh (1st title)
Runners-up	Maldives
Third place	India
Fourth place	Pakistan
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	39 (2.44 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Sarfraz Rasool (4 goals)
Best player(s)	Rajani Kanta Barman[1]
← 1999 2005 →

The final was contested by Bangladesh and the Maldives. Ali Umar had levelled in the second half after Kanchan had given Bangladesh the lead. The match went to penalties and Asraf Lufty had missed from the spot for the Maldives. Mohammed Sujan kept his nerve to score the final penalty giving Bangladesh a 5–3 victory, and with it, their first SAFF Cup championship. Pakistan's Safraz Rasool was top goal scorer.

Venue

The Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka was the only venue for the tournament. It is also the home venue for Bangladesh national football team.

Dhaka	Dhaka
Bangabandhu National Stadium
Capacity: 36,000

Squads

Main article: 2003 SAFF Gold Cup squads

Group stage

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Pakistan	3	3	0	0	4	1	+3	9
India	3	1	1	1	5	2	+3	4
Sri Lanka	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
Afghanistan	3	0	0	3	0	6	−6	0

Source: RSSSF

10 January 2003

India	0–1	Pakistan
	Report	Rasool 50'

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: Tayeb Hossain (Bangladesh)

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10 January 2003

Sri Lanka	1–0	Afghanistan
Steinwall 41'	Report

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: Budhi Bahadur Gurung (Nepal)

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12 January 2003

Pakistan	2–1	Sri Lanka
Niaz 50' Rasool 86'	Report	Weersinghe 89'

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: Ram Krishna Ghosh (Bangladesh)

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12 January 2003

India	4–0	Afghanistan
Biswas 30', 63' D'Cunha 77', 86'	Report

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: Budhi Bahadur Gurung (Nepal)

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14 January 2003

Pakistan	1–0	Afghanistan
Rasool 9'	Report

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: Ram Krishna Ghosh (Bangladesh)

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14 January 2003

India	1–1	Sri Lanka
Biswas 88'	Report	Abeysekera 90'

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: Hasan (Bangladesh)

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Bangladesh	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9
Maldives	3	2	0	1	9	3	+6	6
Nepal	3	1	0	2	4	4	0	3
Bhutan	3	0	0	3	0	11	−11	0

Source: RSSSF

11 January 2003

Maldives	6–0	Bhutan
Nizam 2' Luffy 11' Shiham 24', 25', 67' Umar 77'	Report

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: AD Silva (Sri Lanka)

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11 January 2003

Bangladesh	1–0	Nepal
Alfaz 30'	Report

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Kunsuta Chaiwat (Thailand)

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13 January 2003

Nepal	2–0	Bhutan
Rayamajhi 14' Thapa 87'	Report

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Balu Sundar Raj (India)

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13 January 2003

Bangladesh	1–0	Maldives
Joy 90'	Report

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: AD Silva (Sri Lanka)

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15 January 2003

Nepal	2–3	Maldives
Rayamajhi 56' Chaudhary 90' (pen.)	Report	Nizam 63' Lutfy 75' Umar 85'

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Kunsuta Chaiwat (Thailand)

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15 January 2003

Bangladesh	3–0	Bhutan
Farhad 3', 54' Kanchan 78'	Report

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Balu Sundar Raj (India)

Knockout phase

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	18 January
	Bangladesh	2
					20 January
	India	1
					Bangladesh(p)	1 (5)
	18 January
					Maldives	1 (3)
	Maldives	1
	Pakistan	0
					Third place play-off
					20 January
					India	2
					Pakistan	1

Semi-finals

18 January 2003

Bangladesh	2–1 (a.s.d.e.t.)	India
Kanchan 77' Munna 98'[3]	Report	D'Cunha 81'

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: Kunsuta Chaiwat (Thailand)

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18 January 2003

Maldives	1–0	Pakistan
Fazeel 12'	Report

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: Budhi Bahadur Gurung (Nepal)

Third-place match

20 January 2003

India	2–1 (a.s.d.e.t.)	Pakistan
Vijayan 56' Yadav 99'	Report	Rasool 66'

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: Tayeb Hasan (Bangladesh)

Final

20 January 2003

Bangladesh	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Maldives
Kanchan 13'	Report	Umar 57'
Penalties
Nazrul Farhad Al-Mamun Hasan Sujan	5–3	Naaz Lutfy Naseem Fazeel

Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka

Attendance: 46,000

Referee: AD Silva (Sri Lanka)

Champion

SAFF Gold Cup 2003
Bangladesh First title

Goalscorers

4 goals

• Sarfraz Rasool

3 goals

• Rokonuzzaman Kanchan
• Ashim Biswas
• Alvito D'Cunha
• Ali Shiyam
• Ali Umar

2 goals

• Nirajan Rayamajhi
• Ariful Kabir Farhad
• Ashraf Luthfy
• Mohamed Nizam

1 goal

• Alfaz Ahmed
• Kumar Thapa
• Ibrahim Fazeel
• Arif Khan Joy
• Dev Narayan Chaudhary
• Zahid Niaz
• Motiur Rahman Munna
• I.M. Vijayan
• Abhishek Yadav