Nepal played a 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia at the Dasharath Stadium on Friday in a group D qualifier of the championship. Both the teams failed to qualify for the final round of the championship after Oman defeated Syria 2-1 at the Halchowk Ground.[break]
Nepal had lost eight matches after beating Jordan 3-1 in 2007 and was not able to score in seven matches of the championship after losing to Kuwait 2-3 in the same year. In the last edition of the tournament, Nepal had conceded 13 goals.
Nepali boys put up a fighting spirit on Friday against Saudi Arabia and came from 1-0 down to level the match.
Faisal Darwish Ahmed scored in the 13th minute of the first half in a rebounder from Nepali goalkeeper Birendra Bahadur Chand´s attempt to block Abdulaziz Ali Hazazi´s shot. The ball went into the net deflecting on Chand´s leg and than the pole.
Saudi Arabia created one after another scoring chances but could not utilize them after the 20 minutes mark. Khalid Ibrahim Bin Shuwayyi´s powerful shot from the danger area hid the woodwork and goalie Chand denied Shuwayyi and Abdulkarim Ali Alqhtani in the rebounds.
Hazazi´s shot went just wide in the 24th minute of the match. Hazazi collected a pass from Abdul Rahman Fahad Bin Khayrallah and was able to beat goalkeeper Chand but could not give right direction to the ball. Hazazi missed another scoring chance in the 28th minute.
Heman Gurung leveled the score in the 34th minute through a superb one-touch left footed volley from the edge of the danger area.
Nepali boys then pressurized Saudi Arabia and created another scoring chance in the 44th minute. Saudi keeper Waleed Khalid Abu Milhah fumbled a free kick from Aditya Chaudhary and captain Gurung set the ball to Rishi Pithakoti just infront of the goal-mouth but defender Shuwayyi made a goalline clearance to Pithakoti´s strike.
Substitute Emad Mustafak Alkhaibari made a fine run in the 77th minute and beat Nepali defender Anjan Lakhaju and substitute goalkeeper Brijesh Kumar Singh but his shot hit the pole and rebounded.
“Boys put up a good show. Everyone has considered Saudi as a tough team and we were 1-0 down in the match but boys fought back to level the score,” said Nepali coach Sunil Shrestha.
“As Nepali U-16 team had poor results in the previous editions, we were afraid of finishing the qualifying round without scoring but we are happy today,” he added.
Goal scorer Gurung expressed his delight on scoring first goal in the last five years. “Nepal U-16 was facing one after another bad results in AFC U-16 Championship and I´m happy to score and at least earn a draw in the last match of the team in the qualifying round,” said Gurung.
Saudi coach Omar Abulla Bakhashwein alleged his players of taking Nepal lightly. “Our players didn´t do well in today´s match. May be they thought it was easy to beat Nepal,” said Bakhashwein. “Match was in our hand but result was not satisfactory,” he added.
He also said that the age group tournaments are not only for results but for development. “We failed to qualify but this is what football is. However, the age-group tournament is also for development,” he said.
Saudi players had made complaints with match referee Jameel Juma Abdulhusain Mohamed from Bahrain and provoked the crowds at the stadium. “They are U-16 boys and keeping them under control is a difficult task. However, they were just complaining and not touching referee they didn´t voilate the rules of the game,” said Bakhashwein.
Nepal national team coach Graham Roberts said skipper Gurung, Sanjay Rajbahak, Aditya Chaudhary and Bishwas Shrestha, who performed well during the tournament, will get a chance to train with the national team.
Syria, Oman qualified
Syria and Oman qualified from the group D to the final round as Oman defeated Syria 2-1 and Nepal held Saudi Arabia to 1-1 draw.
Marwan Taaib Marhoon Mubarak gave an early lead to Oman as he opened the score in the ninth minute. Oman doubled the lead three minutes later as Syria captain Abdullah Jniat scored an own goal.
Omar Mshhdani scored a goal for Syria in the 67th minute and gave Syria a hope of bouncing back but rest of the time remained goalless.
Both Syria and Oman have six points each from the three games but Oman topped the group with head-to-head win over Syria.
Related story
The whole of New South Wales is in drought. This is what it loo...
