# 2005 SAFF Gold Cup

The 2005 SAFF Gold Cup was the sixth edition of SAFF Gold Cup. It was the second time the competition was held in Pakistan. All matches were held at the People's Football Stadium in Karachi. The tournament started on 7 December and ended on 17 December.
India won their fourth title after defeating Bangladesh 2–0 in the finals. Both sides contested the finals in the 1999 edition with India coming out victorious with the same result and Bhaichung Bhutia scored in that finals as well.
Ahmed Thariq, Ali Ashfaq and Ibrahim Fazeel of Maldives were the top-scorers of the tournament, all scoring three goals each.

## Participating teams

| Country | Appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA ranking Dec 2005 |
| Pakistan (Host) | 6th | Third-place 1997 | 168 |
| Afghanistan | 2nd | Group stage (2003) | 198 |
| Bangladesh | 5th | Champions (2003) | 170 |
| Bhutan | 2nd | Group stage (2003) | 189 |
| India | 6th | Champions (1993, 1997, 1999) | 135 |
| Maldives | 4th | Runners-up (1997, 2003) | 147 |
| Nepal | 6th | Third-place (1993) | 181 |
| Sri Lanka | 6th | Champions (1995) | 144 |

## Venue

The tournament was held at the People's Football Stadium in Karachi.
| Karachi | Karachi |
| People's Football Stadium | Karachi |
| Capacity: 40,000 | Karachi |

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Maldives | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 7 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | Pakistan (H) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 7 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | Afghanistan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 11 | −8 | 3 | |
| 4 | Sri Lanka | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Bangladesh | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 7 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | India | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 7 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | Nepal | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Bhutan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 0 | |

## Knockout phase
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 14 Dec – Islamabad | 14 Dec – Islamabad |
| Maldives | 0 |
| Maldives | 0 | 17 Dec – Islamabad | 17 Dec – Islamabad |
| India | 1 | 17 Dec – Islamabad | 17 Dec – Islamabad |
| India | 1 | India | 2 |
| 14 Dec – Islamabad | 14 Dec – Islamabad | | India | 2 |
| 14 Dec – Islamabad | 14 Dec – Islamabad | Bangladesh | 0 |
| Bangladesh | 1 | Bangladesh | 0 |
| Pakistan | 0 | | |

### Final
## Statistics
### Goalscorers
#### 3 goals

* Ali Ashfaq
* Ahmed Thariq
* Ibrahim Fazeel

#### 2 goals

* Ariful Kabir Farhad
* Jahid Hasan Ameli
* Rokonuzzaman Kanchan
* Bhaichung Bhutia
* Mehtab Hossain
* Umar Ali
* Basanta Thapa

#### 1 goal

* Sayed Maqsood
* Hafizullah Qadami
* Abdul Maroof Gullestani
* Mohammed Sujan
* Bikash Pradhan
* Abdul Hakim
* Climax Lawrence
* Mahesh Gawli
* Mehrajuddin Wadoo
* N.S. Manju
* Bijaya Gurung
* Surendra Tamang
* Imran Hussain
* Muhammad Essa
* G.P.C. Karunarathne

### Awards

| Most Valuable Player | Top Scorers | Fair Play |
| Bhaichung Bhutia | Ibrahim Fazeel Ali Ashfaq Ahmed Thariq (3 goals) | Bhutan |

### Other statistics

* Most goals scored by: Maldives (11 goals)
* Fewest goals scored by: Bhutan and Sri Lanka (1 goal)
* Most goals conceded by: Afghanistan (11 goals)
* Fewest goals conceded by: India and Maldives (2 goals)
* Fastest goal by: Mehtab Hossain for India against Nepal ( 6')