On Monday, Nepal had lost with identical score against Syria and following the second defeat Nepal hit the bottom of the table remaining pointless as well as goalless in the four team qualifiers. [break]
Nepal has now only mathematical chance of making it to next stage. Nepal needs to beat Saudi Arabia with four goals margin in the last match on Friday and Syria must also beat Oman for Nepal´s qualification.
"The last match will be only for our pride. We have now crashed out of the tournament," Nepal´s coach Sunil Shrestha said during the post-match conference.
On Wednesday, Oman netted both the goals in last 12 minutes of the match. Hatem Sultan Abdallah Al Rushadi and substitute Mubarak Haleef Mubarak Al Alawi achieved the target in 78th and 87th minute respectively.
Oman scored first goal taking advantage of misunderstanding between goalie Birendra Chand and defender Sagar Lama. Al Rushadi directed the ball towards open net after a long freekick off Abdul Salam bounced in the box and went over from advancing goalie Chand.
Al Alawi, 84th minute replacement of Marhoon Mubarak doubled the tally three minutes after his entry with a spectacular shot from the box utilizing a corner off Al Rushadi.
Nepali team seemed too poor against the Gulf opponent after initial 20 minutes of the match. Oman dominated the match from later stage of the second half until the final whistle and piled consistent pressure. Nepali team also suffered due to lots of missed passes.
Nepali team could make only one post attack while Oman made more than half a dozen powerful attacks on the post. Nepal´s goalie Chand denied four scoring chances of Omani players.
Oman´s Marhoon Mubarak´s two attempts in the first half were prevented by goalie Chand. In the 82nd minute, Mubarak´s powerful strike from the box hit woodwork. Al Rushadi´s left footed semi volley shot from the edge was dived and prevented by Chand in the 20th minute.
Nepal´s only attempt to post came in 23rd minute through a freekick from skipper Heman Gurung, but sailed inches wide from the crossbar.
Oman´s coach Piet Heinrich Van Der Horst of Holland said that it was a must win for both of the teams. "It was an open and risk taking match," Horst said adding, "I am happy with the win but we could have scored many goals had the boys utilized chances," Horst said.
Syria tops standing
At the APF ground, Halchowk, Syria beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 to maintain its winning streak and topped the tally with six points. Syria took fourth minute lead through Abdulatef Salkein.
But Abdul Aziz Aeim hit back the equalizer for Saudi Arabia in the 26th minute. Mohamad Alkhaled restored Syria´s lead in the 69th minute which turned out to be the match decider.
Related story
Italian for the Nepali palate
