Srinagar: India surrendered their sub-continental supremacy at Colombo’s Sugathasada Stadium on Saturday when they went down to Maldives 0-1 in the SAFF Cup final.

A depleted India, who were without some of their injured stars like NS Manju, Steven Dias and Rennedy Singh, fought with their back to the wall before conceding the goal in the 87th minute.

India’s hope of winning the SAFF title for the fifth time was dashed by Maldives midfielder Mukhtar Naseer, who unleashed a stunning 25-yarder to beat Indian goalkeeper Subrata Pal.

Maldives, on the other hand, held sway for most part of the proceeding.

Four Indians — Anwar Ali, Mahesh Gawli, Bungo Singh and Sunil Chhetri — were shown the yellow card by the Malaysian referee.

The absence of Dias and Rennedy in the midfield cost India dearly. Their replacements — Bungo Singh and makeshift midfielder Samir Naik — could not show the same flair as wing halves and it did hamper the flow of Indian attacks. Bungo was later replaced by Manjit Singh, but the Mahindra United striker looked lost in his new position.

India were distinctly lucky not to concede a couple of more goals in the second half. Credit should go to Pal making some fine saves. He made his best save in the 57th minute when he foiled Ali Ashfaq from a close range.

Teams

Maldives: Mohammed Shifan (Mohammed Arif, 71st); Ibrahim Fazeel, Ali Ashfaq, Mohammed Jameel and Ahmed Thoriq; Assad Abdul Ghani, Ahmed Saeed, Ismail Mohammed and Mukhtar Naseer (Shamveel Qasim, 92nd); Imran Mohammed and Sobah Mohammed.

India: Subrata Pal; Dipak Mondal, Anwar Ali, Gourmangi Singh and Mahesh Gawli; Bungo Singh (Manjit Singh, 72nd), NP Pradeep, Climax Lawrence and Samir Naik; Sunil Chhetri and Bhaichung Bhutia.

Referee: Abdul Wahab (Malaysia).