MUMBAI — Cricket star Sourav Ganguly earned bragging rights over former teammate Sachin Tendulkar as his Atletico de Kolkata won the inaugural Indian Super League football tournament here Saturday. Substitute Mohammad Rafique scored the 90th minute goal to give Kolkata a 1-0 victory over Tendulkar's Kerala Blasters in the final. A packed house of 40,000 at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai cheered as Rafique's header made it past former England goalkeeper David James, who is also manager of the Kerala team. Kerala was left to rue a missed chance from close range by Michael Chopra in the 83rd minute when his shot was deflected by Kolkata's Armenian goalkeeper Apoula Edel. Organizers and broadcasters had hyped the final as a Tendulkar vs. Ganguly show to attract viewers in the cricket-mad nation. Both stars were at hand to cheer their respective teams. Former Liverpool midfielder Luis Garcia, who did not play the final due to a hamstring injury despite being Kolkata's marquee player, said he was excited to see his new team win the title. The eight-team franchised-based tournament, modeled on cricket's popular Indian Premier League, was bankrolled by Rupert Murdoch's Star TV and backed by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani and sports management giant IMG. Apart of Tendulkar and Ganguly, other team owners included Bollywood A-listers Ranbir Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham. The 10-week, 61-match tournament lured past greats like former Italy and Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero, 40, Marco Materazzi, ex-France and Arsenal star Robert Pires, 41, Sweden's Freddie Ljungberg, 37 and controversial Frenchman Nicolas Anelka. Brazilian great Zico was one of the coaches. India, which currently stands at 159 out of 208 countries in the FIFA rankings, was recently described by the sport's world chief Sepp Blatter as the “sleeping giant of football.” Thailand seals 4th ASEAN Cup Thailand won the ASEAN Cup for a record-equaling fourth time Saturday after scoring twice in the last 10 minutes to beat Malaysia 4-3 on aggregate. Despite losing Saturday's second leg 3-2 in Kuala Lumpur, Thailand clinched the title after winning 2-0 in Bangkok Wednesday. Roared on by a boisterous home crowd of 100,000 at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was minutes away from snatching the title when it led 3-0. But the Thais pulled one back through Charyl Chappuis in the 81st minute, to take the lead on away goals, before sealing the result with a stunning strike from Chanathip Songkrasin in the 88th minute. Thailand also won the biennial championship in 1996, 2000 and 2002, and Saturday's win brought the War Elephants level with Singapore's record of four titles. — Agencies
