Jubilant Indians holding the SAFF Cup, after beating Bangaldesh 2-0 in the final in Karachi on Saturday

Karachi: A goal in each half gave India a 2-0 win over defending champions Bangladesh in the final of the SAFF Cup at the Peoples Stadium here on Saturday.

Mehrajuddin Wadao broke the ice in the 33rd minute and skipper Bhaichung Bhutia sealed victory for India when he scored in the 79th minute. This is India’s fourth title ? their first since 1999.

The title victory also added another feather to the cap of coach Syed Nayeemuddin, who won his second SAFF Cup. Earlier, he had led India to glory in the 1997 edition in which Charlton Chapman-led team defeated the Maldives 5-1 in Kathmandu.

It was India’s 10th victory over Bangladesh who are left with just three victories in 20 meetings. Saturday’s win was also a sweet revenge on Bangaldesh, who beat India, then coached by Stephen Constantine, in the semi-finals of the last edition held in Dhaka. Debjit Ghosh was the captain at that time. Bangaldesh went on to win the championship.

In front of a cheering and supporting 30,000 spectators, India dominated the match from the very outset, but had to wait till the 33rd minute to score their opening goal, that came off Mehrajuddin who returned after serving a one-match suspension.

The Mohun Bagan defender, an opportunist that he is, made full use of a melee inside the Bangladesh box to find the net following a right-wing cross by former Indian skipper and midfielder S. Venkatesh.

But before Mehrajuddin scored the opener, India should have gone ahead when, first striker Syed Rahim Nabi and then midfielder Climax Lawrence, failed to give finishing touches to a brilliant move.

A minute later, K. Ajayan also came close to scoring after a solo breakaway, but his feeble kick missed the target. Bangladesh could have equalised two minutes after Mehrajuddin put his side in front but Alfaz’s header of Ariful Kabir went wide off the left post.

The Indians were home and dry in the 81st minute when Bhutia tapped the ball past ’keeper Aminul Hoque from hand-shake distance, following defence-splitting left-wing cross by substitute winger Abdul Hikkim.

Besides receiving a glittering trophy and the winners’ cheque of $50,000 from Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Bhutia, who won this third SAFF Cup gold, also won the most valuable player’s award.

Bhutan won the Fair Play Trophy.