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
CountryAppearancePrevious best performance Dec 2005 (Host) 6th Third-place 1997 168 2nd Group stage (2003) 198 5th Champions (2003) 170 2nd Group stage (2003) 189 6th Champions (1993, 1997, 1999)135 4th Runners-up (1997, 2003) 147 6th Third-place (1993) 181 6th Champions (1995) 144
Squads
Venue The tournament was held at the People's Football Stadium in Karachi. KarachiPeople's Football StadiumCapacity: 40,000
Group stage Group A
Group B
Knockout phase Bracket
Semi-finals
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 Ali Umar 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 PlayerTop ScorersFair Play Bhaichung Bhutia Ibrahim Fazeel
Ali Ashfaq
Ahmed Thariq
(3 goals)
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 ()
References
External links 2005 SAFF Championship RSSSF