Women's Football: SAFF Cup will always remain in India, says final hero Dalima Chhibber

India beat Nepal 3-1 in the final of the SAFF Women's Football Championship in Biratnagar, Nepal. The win meant that the Blue Tigresses made it five championship wins in five editions of the tournament.

Dalima Chhibber, who scored a goal from about 40 yards out off a free-kick, said that no matter what, the team would always try to ensure that no other team would be able to win that tournament, which India have monopolised over the years.

In the Hero Gold Cup last month in Bhubaneswar, Nepal had beaten India 2-1, and Chhibber said that game was in the back of the players' minds. "We knew they had beaten us at home, so we always wanted to win. There can be no sweeter revenge, than coming to Nepal, beating them at their home and winning the trophy for India," she said.

Chhibber turned heads with a sensational free-kick in the first half, which put India 1-0 up on the day, and she said she was confident of her ability to strike the dead ball.

"I score long rangers often, and I was confident again. I just wanted to ensure the strike was on target, and that I made the goalkeeper make a save at least."

Nepal's forward Sabitra Bhandari has been a little bit of a thorn in Indian flesh in the recent past, having also scored twice in the Nepalese victory in the Hero Gold Cup.

Chhibber said that, with all due respect to Bhandari's ability, the team wasn't just focused on containing her. "We wanted to defend as a unit, and with all due respect, we faced some much tougher opponents than her recently. So, we didn't focus on her alone, she had her chances and took one of them, but we won in the end," she said.

So, what was said at half-time? India came out in the second half with a renewed vigour and energy that wasn't seen before the break, where Nepal were arguably the better side.

"Not much was said," the 21-year-old said, "All of us wanted to win, and that was the only thing running through our heads. We were not going to back down from the fight for sure, we wanted to take the trophy home with us."

The Delhi girl also said that it was a huge help to the team that they've played the number of competitive games that they have in the recent past.

"We've progressed as a team, and you can see that we are much more comfortable playing with each other now. Playing quality teams like Romania has definitely helped us in our progress," she said.

Next month, India will take the field in the second round of the AFC Qualifiers for 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where they have been grouped along with Myanmar, Nepal and Indonesia, who are all teams that India have faced in the recent past.

Chhibber said the number of games this team has played together will stand them in good stead ahead of that tournament, where the sole aim is "to get the three points in every game we play."

"We'll take confidence from our recent games, we'll face Nepal there as well, so this win is a huge boost in confidence. We just want to win every game we play and make it to the third round of the qualifiers," she said.

India face Indonesia in their first game of the second round of Olympic Qualifiers on April 3, when the action for the group commences in Myanmar.