2008 AFC Challenge Cup

The 2008 AFC Challenge Cup football tournament was organised by AFC and was hosted by India. The tournament was played from 30 July – 13 August 2008. India won the final against Tajikistan.^[1] India was also the winner of the fair play award and the India captain Bhaichung Bhutia won the most valuable player award.

2008 AFC Challenge Cup

Tournament details
Host country	India
Dates	30 July – 13 August
Venue(s)	3 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	India (1st title)
Runners-up	Tajikistan
Third place	North Korea
Fourth place	Myanmar
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	41 (2.56 per match)
Attendance	15,900 (994 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Pak Song-chol (6 goals)
Best player(s)	Bhaichung Bhutia
← 2006 2010 →

Chinese Taipei was originally designated the host, but could not guarantee it would meet the AFC's standards for hosting the tournament.^[2] Thailand was first chosen as host but withdrew due to lack of time to prepare.^[3] The Philippines also was to take over as host with matches to be played in Bacolod in May 2008 but the plan failed to materialized.^[4]

The winners of the 2008 and 2010 competitions will qualify directly for the 2011 Asian Cup. As a result, India qualified for the AFC Asian Cup, the first time since 1984. This competition is exclusive to members of the emerging nations class of the AFC. However, in the previous edition, Bangladesh and India were invited from the developing nations class – Bangladesh actually hosting the tournament, and India sending their under-20 team. India and Bangladesh have again been invited for the 2008 edition of the tournament, along with North Korea, Myanmar and Turkmenistan who are also a part of the developing nations class.

Laos withdrew from the competition on 2 May 2008.^[5] Palestine withdrew from the competition on 14 May 2008.^[6]

Due to the poor conditions of the pitch at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, the AFC moved the majority of the matches to another venue. It was decided that ten matches would be played at the Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, and two at the LBS Stadium.^[7] Due to incessant rains in Hyderabad in the days leading up to the final, the AFC changed the venue of the final and the third place play-off to the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi.^[8]

Tournament

Qualification saw the top team from each of the four qualification groups qualify for the tournament proper, bringing the total number of participating teams in the centralized finals to eight. In addition, India (tournament hosts), Korea DPR, Turkmenistan and Myanmar qualified automatically.

Mongolia and Timor-Leste decided not to take part.^[9]

Seeding

Bold Type – qualified teams, Italics – withdrawn teams

1.  North Korea
2.  Turkmenistan
3.  India
4.  Myanmar
5.  Tajikistan
6.  Sri Lanka
7.    Nepal
8.  Kyrgyzstan
9.  Palestine (Withdrew 14 May 2008)
10.  Chinese Taipei
11.  Bangladesh
12.  Brunei
13.  Pakistan
14.  Cambodia
15.  Philippines
16.  Afghanistan
17.  Bhutan
18.  Macau
19.  Guam
20.  Laos (Withdrew 2 May 2008)

Venues

Hyderabad		Hyderabad New Delhi			New Delhi
Gachibowli Athletic Stadium	Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium				Ambedkar Stadium
Capacity: 30,000	Capacity: 30,000				Capacity: 20,000

Qualification

Main article: 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification

The following teams qualified for the final tournament:

•  India (Host)
•  North Korea (Automatic Qualifier)
•  Turkmenistan (Automatic Qualifier)
•  Myanmar (Automatic Qualifier)
•  Sri Lanka (Winner Qualification Group A)
•  Tajikistan (Winner Qualification Group B)
•  Afghanistan (Winner Qualification Group C)
•    Nepal (Winner Qualification Group D)

Squads

Main article: 2008 AFC Challenge Cup squads

Group stage

All times are Indian Standard Time (IST) – UTC+5:30

Key to colours in group tables
Top two placed teams advance to the semi-finals

Tie-breaking criteria

Where two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:

1. points earned in the matches between the teams concerned;
2. goal difference in the matches between the teams concerned;
3. number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
4. goal difference in all group matches;
5. number of goals scored in all group matches;
6. kicks from the penalty mark (if only two teams are level and they are both on the field of play);
7. fewer yellow and red cards received in the group matches;
8. drawing of lots by the organising committee.

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
India	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
Tajikistan	3	1	2	0	5	1	+4	5
Turkmenistan	3	1	1	1	6	2	+4	4
Afghanistan	3	0	0	3	0	10	−10	0

Source: RSSSF

Turkmenistan	0–0	Tajikistan
	Report

30 July 2008

16:00

Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 150

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

---

India	1–0	Afghanistan
Lawrence 90+2'	Report

30 July 2008

18:30

Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 300

Referee: Masaaki Toma (Japan)

---

Tajikistan	1–1	India
Rabiev 11'	Report	Tuychiev 61' (o.g.)

1 August 2008

16:00

Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 350

Referee: Tayeb Shamsuzzaman (Bangladesh)

---

Afghanistan	0–5	Turkmenistan
	Report	Öwekow 1', 41', 77', 80' Krendelev 23'

1 August 2008

18:30

Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 100

Referee: Ali Saleem (Maldives)

---

Turkmenistan	1–2	India
Orazmämmedow 84'	Report	Bhutia 54', 80'

3 August 2008

18:30

Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 1,000

Referee: Khalid Al-Senan (UAE)

---

Afghanistan	0–4	Tajikistan
	Report	Rabiev 14', 44', 56' Tukhtasunov 39'

3 August 2008

18:30

Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 150

Referee: Vo Minh Tri (Vietnam)

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
North Korea	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9
Myanmar	3	2	0	1	6	2	+4	6
Nepal	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	3
Sri Lanka	3	0	0	3	1	9	−8	0

Source: RSSSF

North Korea	3–0	Sri Lanka
Madushka Peiris 5' (o.g.) Pak Song-chol 9', 27'	Report

31 July 2008

16:00

Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 100

Referee: Vo Minh Tri (Vietnam)

---

Myanmar	3–0	Nepal
Yazar Win Thein 66' Myo Min Tun 76' Soe Myat Min 86'	Report

31 July 2008

18:30

Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 150

Referee: Khalid Al-Senan (UAE)

---

Sri Lanka	1–3	Myanmar
Jayasuriya 51'	Report	Soe Myat Min 47' Yan Paing 70' Si Thu Win 85'

2 August 2008

16:00

Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 100

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

---

Nepal	0–1	North Korea
	Report	Pak Song-chol 39'

2 August 2008

18:30

Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 100

Referee: Masaaki Toma (Japan)

---

North Korea	1–0	Myanmar
Ro Hak-su 15'	Report

4 August 2008

18:30

Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 100

Referee: Tayeb Shamsuzzaman (Bangladesh)

---

Nepal	3–0	Sri Lanka
Sahukhala 14' J.M. Rai 55' K.C. Anjan 68'	Report

4 August 2008

18:30

Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 200

Referee: Ali Saleem (Maldives)

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	7 August – Hyderabad
	India	1
					13 August – New Delhi
	Myanmar	0
					India	4
	7 August – Hyderabad
					Tajikistan	1
	North Korea	0
	Tajikistan	1
					Third place
					13 August – New Delhi
					North Korea	4
					Myanmar	0

Semi-finals

India	1–0	Myanmar
Chhetri 82'	Report

7 August 2008

16:00

Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Tayeb Shamsuzzaman (Bangladesh)

---

North Korea	0–1	Tajikistan
	Report	Mukhidinov 39'

7 August 2008

19:30

Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad

Attendance: 600

Referee: Masaaki Toma (Japan)

Third place play-off

Myanmar	0–4	North Korea
	Report	Pak Song-chol 10', 12', 44' (pen.) Ro Hak-su 53'

13 August 2008

16:00

Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi

Attendance: 1,000

Referee: Khalid Al-Senan (UAE)

Final

Main article: 2008 AFC Challenge Cup Final

India	4–1	Tajikistan
Chhetri 9', 23', 75' Bhutia 18'	Report	Fatkhuloev 44'

13 August 2008

19:00

Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

Winner

2008 AFC Challenge Cup champions
India First title

Awards

Fair Play Award			Golden Shoe			Most Valuable Player
India			Pak Song-chol			Bhaichung Bhutia

Goalscorers

6 goals Pak Song-chol 4 goals Sunil Chhetri Yusuf Rabiev Guwançmuhammet Öwekow 3 goals Bhaichung Bhutia 2 goals Soe Myat Min Ro Hak-su 1 goal Climax Lawrence Myo Min Tun Si Thu Win Yan Paing Yazar Win Thein

1 goal K.C. Anjan Ju Manu Rai Santosh Sahukhala Kasun Jayasuriya Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev Dzhomikhon Mukhidinov Davronjon Tukhtasunov Vyacheslav Krendelev Ýusup Orazmämmedow Own goal Madushka Peiris (playing against Korea DPR) Alisher Tuychiev (playing against India)

Team statistics

This table shows all team performance. Matches that ended in a penalty shoot out are counted as draws

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Reached the knockout stage
1	India	5	4	1	0	9	3	+6
2	Tajikistan	5	2	2	1	7	5	+2
3	North Korea	5	4	0	1	9	1	+8
4	Myanmar	5	2	0	3	6	7	-1
Eliminated in the group stage
5	Turkmenistan	3	1	1	1	6	2	+4
6	Nepal	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1
7	Sri Lanka	3	0	0	3	1	9	−8
8	Afghanistan	3	0	0	3	0	10	−10

Source:^[10]