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.The Roon Ba News, 17 December 2007 India was also the winner of the fair play award and the India captain Bhaichung Bhutia won the most valuable player award.
Chinese Taipei was originally designated the host, but could not guarantee it would meet the AFC's standards for hosting the tournament. Thailand was first chosen as host but withdrew due to lack of time to prepare. 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.
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. Palestine withdrew from the competition on 14 May 2008.
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. 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.
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.AFC Asian Cup 2011 and AFC Challenge Cup 2008: AFC announces seedings and revised qualification process
Seeding Bold Type – qualified teams, Italics – withdrawn teams
(Withdrew 14 May 2008)
(Withdrew 2 May 2008)
Venues Hyderabad New Delhi Gachibowli Athletic Stadium Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium Ambedkar Stadium Capacity: 30,000 Capacity: 30,000 Capacity: 20,000
Qualification
The following teams qualified for the final tournament: (Host) (Automatic Qualifier) (Automatic Qualifier) (Automatic Qualifier) (Winner Qualification Group A) (Winner Qualification Group B) (Winner Qualification Group C) (Winner Qualification Group D)
Squads
Officials Referees
Tayeb Shamsuzzaman Masaaki Toma Ali Saleem Khalid Al-Senan Valentin Kovalenko Võ Minh Trí
Assistant Referees
Silk Denis John Han Wei Cheruvathur Kurian Shaji Saadon Bin Mohamad Al Qasmi Ali Ahmed Ali Mohammad Jaber A. H. Dharman Chia Eng Wah John Tamam Hamdoun
Group stage All times are Indian Standard Time (IST) – UTC+5:30
Key to colours in group tablesTop 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: points earned in the matches between the teams concerned; goal difference in the matches between the teams concerned; number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned; goal difference in all group matches; number of goals scored in all group matches; kicks from the penalty mark (if only two teams are level and they are both on the field of play); fewer yellow and red cards received in the group matches; drawing of lots by the organising committee.
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
Final
Winner
Awards Fair Play Award Golden Shoe Most Valuable Player 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 TeamReached the knockout stage154101393+625221875+2354011291+845203667-1Eliminated in the group stage53111462+463102334−173003009−8830030010−10 Source:
References
External links Official Site Stats at a glance