The 2008

AFC Challenge Cup The AFC Challenge Cup was an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries that was categorized as "emerging countries" in the "Vision Asia" programme. "Vision Asia", created by former AFC president, ...

football tournament was organised by AFC and was hosted by India.The tournament was played from 30 July – 13 August 2008.

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

won the final against

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. India was also the winner of the fair play award and the India captain

Bhaichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often ...

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 The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the fifte ...

. As a result, India qualified for the AFC Asian Cup, the first time since

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

.This competition is exclusive to members of the ''emerging nations'' class of the AFC. However, in the previous edition,

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and

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 North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

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 Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, formerly known as Fateh Maidan, is a multi-purpose sports stadium in Hyderabad, Telangana. The stadium is primarily used for cricket and association football. The stadium was renamed in 1967 in memory of Lal Ba ...

, 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 Ganti Mohana Chandra Balayogi Athletic Stadium, formerly known as the Gachibowli Athletic Stadium ( te, జి. ఎం. సి. బాలయోగి అథ్లెటిక్ స్టేడియం), is a multipurpose stadium situated in ...

, and two at the LBS Stadium. Due to incessant rains in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

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 Dr. Ambedkar Stadium is a football stadium in New Delhi, India. The stadium is named in honour of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, famous social reformer and architect of the Indian Constitution. It was earlier known as the Corporation Stadium. It also he ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

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,

(tournament hosts),

Korea DPR North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

and

qualified automatically.

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and

Timor-Leste East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...

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

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

Group stage

All times are

Indian Standard Time Indian Standard Time (IST), sometimes also called India Standard Time, is the time zone observed throughout India, with a time offset of UTC+05:30. India does not observe daylight saving time or other seasonal adjustments. In military and avi ...

(IST) – UTC+5:30

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

Goalscorers

;6 goals *

Pak Song-chol Pak Song-chol or Park Sung-chul (2 September 1913 – 28 October 2008) was a North Korean politician who served as Premier of North Korea from 1976 to 1977. He succeeded Kim Il. He also served as foreign minister from 1959 to 1970. Biogra ...

;4 goals *

Sunil Chhetri Sunil Chhetri (born 3 August 1984) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the India national team. Widely regarded as the greatest Indian footballer of all time, h ...

Yusuf Rabiev Yusuf Rabiev (born 25 May 1979) is a former Tajik International professional footballer, and current Istiklol Youth Team coach. Career International Rabiev won the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup with the Tajik national team, scoring four goals in the ...

* Guwançmuhammet Öwekow ;3 goals *

;2 goals *

Soe Myat Min U Soe Myat Min ( my, စိုးမြတ်မင်း, ; born 19 May 1982) is a former Burmese footballer. He played for the Myanmar national team and spent the majority of his club career at Kanbawza. Making his debut for the national t ...

* Ro Hak-su ;1 goal *

Climax Lawrence Climax Lourenco Lawrence (born 16 January 1979) is a retired Indian professional football midfielder. He last played for FC Bardez in the Goa Professional League in 2017. National team In 2002, he was called to the India national football te ...

Myo Min Tun Myo Min Tun (born 14 June 1983) is a footballer from Myanmar. He made his first appearance for the Myanmar national football team The Myanmar national football team ( my, မြန်မာ့လက်ရွေးစင်အမျိုး ...

* Si Thu Win *

Yan Paing Yan Paing ( my, ရန်ပိုင်) born 27 November 1983 in Yangon) is a Burmese footballer who plays for the Myanmar national football team. He also plays with Yadanarbon in Myanmar National League. Yan Paing is a key striker for the M ...

Yazar Win Thein Yaza Win Thein (born 9 April 1988) is a footballer from Myanmar. He made his first appearance for the Myanmar national football team in 2007. Honours Club *Myanmar National League The MPT Myanmar National League ( my, မြန်မာ နေ ...

;1 goal * K.C. Anjan *

Ju Manu Rai Ju Manu Rai (Nepali: जुमानु राई; born 24 January 1984 in Sarlahi District) is a Nepalese footballer, who currently plays for Nepal Police Club and the national side of Nepal. Career He used to play the local tournaments of foo ...

Santosh Sahukhala Santosh Sahukhala ( ne, सन्तोष साहुखल; born 10 January 1988) is a Nepali international football player. Early life As a child he played at the Madhyapur Football Club. His elder brother Bal Gopal Sahukhala is also a p ...

Kasun Jayasuriya Kasun Nadika Jayasuriya (born 25 March 1980) is a retired Sri Lankan football player who last played for Saunders Sports Club and the Sri Lanka national football team. He is also the all-time top goalscorer for the Sri Lankan national team wi ...

Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev Fatkhullo Dastamovich Fatkhulloyev (russian: Фатхулло Дастамович Фатхуллоев; born 24 March 1990) is a Tajik professional footballer who plays as a winger for Bangladesh Premier League club Rahmatganj MFS and the ...

* Dzhomikhon Mukhidinov * Davronjon Tukhtasunov * Vyacheslav Krendelev * Ýusup Orazmämmedow ;Own goal * Madushka Peiris (playing against

) * Alisher Tuychiev (playing against

)

Team statistics

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

References

External links

Official Site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Challenge Cup

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2008 in Asian football

2 2008 in Tajikistani football 2008 in Turkmenistani football 2008 in Afghan football 2008 in North Korean football 2008–09 in Sri Lankan football 2008 in Burmese football 2008 in Nepalese sport