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2006 AFC Challenge Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Bangladesh
Dates	1–16 April
Venue(s)	3 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Tajikistan (1st title)
Runners-up	Sri Lanka
Tournament statistics
Matches played	31
Goals scored	82 (2.65 per match)
Attendance	150,150 (4,844 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Fahed Attal (8 goals)
Best player(s)	Ibrahim Rabimov
2008 →

The 2006 AFC Challenge Cup was held between 1 and 16 April 2006 in Bangladesh. Sixteen teams were split into four groups, the top two in each group qualifying for the quarterfinals, and from then on a straight knockout contest. There was no qualification stage. The cup winner was Tajikistan. The fair play award was won by Sri Lanka and Tajik Ibrahim Rabimov won the most valuable player award.

Selection of teams

The AFC classed seventeen nations as emerging associations, which need time to develop their football. They were selected in August 2005 to take part. Laos, Mongolia, and Timor-Leste were initially selected to participate, but were later replaced by Bangladesh and India of the developing associations class, reducing the number of participating teams to sixteen.

Hosts and stadia

The AFC decided at its annual meeting, that Bangladesh would host the opening ceremony and that Nepal would host the final unless Bangladesh makes it into the last two, in which case it would be held in Dhaka, its capital. It was originally planned that the teams in Groups A and B would play their games in Nepal and that teams in Groups C and D would play in Bangladesh, but due to the political unrest that shook Nepal, it was decided that only Bangladesh would host the tournament. The Challenge Cup was originally scheduled to take place between 26 March to 9 April 2006 but was changed to avoid clashes with Bangladesh's Independence Day on 26 March. The two stadia that were selected to be used during this tournament were: the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka and the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong. However, the Bangladesh Army Stadium in Dhaka was later used to make-up the matches that were abandoned due to heavy rain.

Venues

Dhaka		Chittagong
Bangabandhu National Stadium	Bangladesh Army Stadium	M. A. Aziz Stadium
Capacity: 36,000	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 40,000
DhakaChittagong

Teams

Some teams did not take part with their 'main' national squad, as noted below:

• India decided to field their under-20 team in preparation for the AFC Youth Championship they were later hosting.
• Kyrgyzstan took part with a young squad, made up mostly of players from their under-20 team which had qualified for the AFC Youth Championship.

Squads

Group stage

All times are Bangladesh Standard Time (BST) – UTC+6

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:

1. points earned in the matches between the teams concerned;
2. goal difference in the matches between the teams concerned;
3. number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
4. goal difference in all group matches;
5. number of goals scored in all group matches;
6. kicks from the penalty mark (if only two teams are level and they are both on the field of play);
7. fewer yellow and red cards received in the group matches;
8. drawing of lots by the organising committee.

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
India U20	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	5
Chinese Taipei	3	1	2	0	3	2	+1	5
Philippines	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2
Afghanistan	3	0	2	1	3	5	−2	2

India U20	2–0	Afghanistan
Vimal 35', 60'	Report

Chinese Taipei	1–0	Philippines
Chuang Wei-lun 20'	Report

Philippines	1–1	India U20
Valeroso 19'	Report	Vimal 8'

Afghanistan	2–2	Chinese Taipei
Qadami 20', 23'	Report	Chuang Wei-lun 48' Liang Chien-wei 73'

India U20	0–0	Chinese Taipei
	Report

Philippines	1–1	Afghanistan
Valeroso 59'	Report	Maqsood 28'

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Sri Lanka	3	2	1	0	3	1	+2	7
Nepal	3	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4
Brunei	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
Bhutan	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1

Sri Lanka	1–0	Brunei
Kasun 74'	Report

Nepal	2–0	Bhutan
Pradeep 52', 68'	Report

Bhutan	0–1	Sri Lanka
	Report	Karu 45'

Brunei	2–1	Nepal
Adie 11' Riwandi 42'	Report	Tashi 60'

Sri Lanka	1–1	Nepal
Izzadeen 19'	Report	Pradeep 75' (pen.)

Bhutan	0–0	Brunei
	Report

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Palestine	3	2	1	0	16	1	+15	7
Bangladesh	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	7
Cambodia	3	1	0	2	4	6	−2	3
Guam	3	0	0	3	0	17	−17	0

Palestine	11–0	Guam
Keshkesh 6' Attal 14', 20', 25', 32', 45+1', 86' Atura 22' Al Amour 39' Al-Kord 59', 67'	Report

Bangladesh	2–1	Cambodia
Alfaz 31' Ameli 64'	Report	C. Rithy 68'

Cambodia	0–4	Palestine
	Report	Keshkesh 10' Al-Sweirki 12', 75' Attal 30'

Guam	0–3	Bangladesh
	Report	Ameli 49' Abul 83', 85'

Palestine	1–1	Bangladesh
Attal 30'	Report	Tapu 55'

Cambodia	3–0	Guam
S. Buntheang 37' Kosal 40' K. Kumpheak 63'	Report

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Tajikistan	3	2	0	1	6	1	+5	6
Kyrgyzstan	3	2	0	1	3	1	+2	6
Pakistan	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	4
Macau	3	0	1	2	2	8	−6	1

Tajikistan	4–0	Macau
Mahmudov 9' Rabiev 13' Rabimov 56' Khojaev 77'	Report

Kyrgyzstan	0–1	Pakistan
	Report	Essa 59'

Pakistan	0–2	Tajikistan
	Report	Hakimov 14' Irgashev 20'

Tajikistan	0–1	Kyrgyzstan
	Report	Krasnov 22'

Pakistan	2–2	Macau
Adeel 12' Essa 43'	Report	Chan Kin Seng 16', 52'

Macau	0–2	Kyrgyzstan
	Report	Ablakimov 35' Ishenbaev 58'

Knockout stage

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	8 April - Chittagong
	Chinese Taipei	0
					12 April – Chittagong
	Sri Lanka	3
					Sri Lanka (PSO)	1 (5)
	9 April - Chittagong
					Nepal	1 (3)
	India U20	0
									16 April – Dhaka
	Nepal	3
									Sri Lanka	0
	9 April - Dhaka
									Tajikistan	4
	Palestine	0
					13 April - Dhaka
	Kyrgyzstan	1
					Kyrgyzstan	0
	10 April - Dhaka
					Tajikistan	2
	Bangladesh	1
	Tajikistan	6

Quarter-finals

Sri Lanka	3–0	Chinese Taipei
Izzadeen 44' Sanjaya 70' Ratnayaka 90'	Report

India U20	0–3	Nepal
	Report	Pradeep 16', 26' Basanta 28'

Palestine	0–1	Kyrgyzstan
	Report	Djamshidov 90+1'

Tajikistan	6–1	Bangladesh
Rabimov 2' Mahmudov 20' Mukhidinov 31' Hakimov 51' Rabiev 65' Nematov 81'	Report	Alfaz 17'

Semi-finals

Sri Lanka	1–1	Nepal
Kasun 65'	Report	Basanta 82'
Penalties
Fuard Chathura Gunaratne Channa Ratnayaka	5 – 3	Anjan Tashi Nabin Pradeep

Kyrgyzstan	0–2	Tajikistan
	Report	Rabiev 51', 90+2'

Final

Sri Lanka	0–4	Tajikistan
	Report	Mukhidinov 1', 61', 71' Mahmudov 45'

Winner

2006 AFC Challenge Cup champions
Tajikistan First title

Awards

Fair Play Award			Golden Shoe			Most Valuable Player
Sri Lanka			Fahed Attal			Ibrahim Rabimov

Goalscorers

Notes

1. Although the match summary indicates that Mukhidinov scored three goals, a match review article published by the AFC on 19 April 2006 indicates that he only scored two goals while teammate Numonjon Hakimov scored one goal.

References

1. "Victory a boost for Tajikistan football: Nazarov". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
2. "Big Soccer Forum Thread on AFC Challenge Cup 2006".
3. "Opening ceremony of AFC Challenge Cup to be held in Bangladesh". Xinhua News Agency. Retrieved 30 November 2005.
4. "AFC Challenge Cup opening ceremony in Bangladesh". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 28 November 2005.
5. "Bangladesh to be sole host of inaugural AFC Challenge Cup 2006". The AFC. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2006.
6. Acharya, Pawan (2006). "Nepal Dumped as AFC Cup Host". OhmyNews. Archived from the original on 3 December 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2006.
7. "Nepal dumped as co-host of AFC Challenge Cup". Daily Times. Pakistan. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2006.
8. Kantipur (2006). "AFC dumps Nepal from co-hosting AFC Challenge Cup 2006". eKantipur.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2006.
9. Kantipur (2006). "AFC dumps Nepal from co-hosting AFC Challenge Cup 2006". KantipurOnline.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2006.
10. "Podkorytov is Kyrgyzstan acting coach". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2006.
11. "Tajikistan lift inaugural AFC Challenge Cup". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 19 April 2006. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2011.

External links

• Official site of the AFC Challenge Cup Bangladesh 2006
• AFC Challenge Cup 2006 at RSSSF
• AFC Challenge Cup 2006 at FutbolPlanet.de

• 2006 AFC Challenge Cup
• AFC Challenge Cup
• 2006 in Asian football
• 2006 in Bangladeshi football
• International association football competitions hosted by Bangladesh