Kathmandu Lift Gyalyum Chenmo Gold Cup

The Jubilant Kathmandu with the Gyalyum Chenmo Gold Cup and trophies

Dharamsala, 14 June: After all the hullabaloo as to who would lift the most prestigious Gyalyum Chenmo Gold Cup, it was a modest team from the kingdom of Nepal who thrashed the favourites Dhanglob Rukhag by three goals in the penalty shootout. It’s not Pokhara this time but Kathmandu. True, says a Kathmandu fan, the footballing capital of Tibet is in Nepal.

Nearly 6,000 spectators gathered at the TCV School to witness the final of the 13th Gyalyum Chenmo Memorial Football Tournament. Even an hour before the match began, vehicles already started jamming traffic upto a kilometre from the venue. The venue, TCV School, has never before attracted a crowd of this number ever, an old staff of the school told TibetNet.

The Deputy Commissioner of Kangra, Mr. Shrikant Baldi, was the chief guest for the occasion. He congratulated the 12 players of the Tibetan national team which toured Denmark last year.

Dhanglob Rukhag were the obvious choice to lift this year’s title but all popular predictions seemed to be proving disastrously wrong as Kathmandu gave their opponents some nail-biting moments. Kathmandu, in all their games displayed wonderful footballing tactics that got them through even against mighty Doon Valley and Dhasa who were hailed as possible finalists. And on the D’ Day, Kathmandu had not lost the touch as was shown by the first goal of the game coming from a free kick that was slipped off goalkeeper’s hands and went past him to hit the net.

Pressure on the Dhanglob players became visible as all their strikers mistimed a few easy shots and failed to hit the target.

Who said Tibetans do not resort to football – hooliganism? Empty water bottles were hurled on to the ground which disrupted the game for a while. Dhanglob had to secure comeback in the game if they wanted to stand any chance of posing triumphantly with the Gold Cup. And the moment came when Dawa Tsering of Dhanglob hit a powerful volley into the side of the net catching the Kathmandu custodian unawares. Huge roars of applause could be heard as Dhanglob celebrated the goal with their diehard fans of Namgyal Monastery, their host in town.

At the half time, the score was levelled. As soon as the second half entered into its twenty fifth minute, Kathmandu’s forward Karma Yeshi chased a ball that was moving to wards the goalkeeper and headed it into the net to claim the lead by a goal. Kathmandu then substituted a forward by a defender to begin a defensive game now that they have the lead. Dhanglob tried all means to get an equalizer which, fortunately for them, came just before the finishing time when Kathmandu goal keeper had some misunderstandings in the box with his defenders before the ball was banged into the net by Dhanglob striker. Referee signaled the end of the full time.

The game entered into golden goal period which is now, according to FIFA’s new rules, inapplicable. According to the old rule, two halves would be played if a match is undecided in the full time, whichever team scores the first goal wins the match. The new rules say that two halves will be played fully no matter who scores the first goal.

Two halves of ten minutes each was played and the match remained undecided. Then began the penalty shootout. Dhanglob’s Dawa Tsering who later received the trophy for the highest goal scorer of the tournament, hit the spot-kick on the right pole. Dhanglob’s second player hit the kick wide outside the goal and the third kick was blocked by the Kathmandu’s goalkeeper. The first three penalty takers of Kathmandu made no mistake in hitting the net. Kathmandu became the new champions and deservingly so, they won by 3 goals to nil.