South Asian rival the Maldives knocked out the home team with a 1-0 victory handing the latter the second consecutive defeat in group A match at the Dasharath Stadium, Kathmandu on Saturday. [break]
M Rasheed (Hockey) scored the all important goal for visitors against the run of match in second half to disappoint huge home supporters and keep the Maldivian dream afloat of moving into semifinal.
Nepal vs Maldives
As both the teams have lost their opening match, Nepal 2-0 against Palestine and the Maldives 3-1 against Turkmenistan, a defeat to either of the team was sure to end their dreams of moving into knockout stage.
With a match in hand, Nepal hits the bottom of the table remaining pointless, while the Maldives has three points and Palestine and Turkmenistan four points apiece in group A. All the teams in four-team group will play their last group stage matches on Monday. The semifinal entry still remains wide open for all teams other than Nepal.
Maldives celebrate after scoring goal.
Nepal once again repeated its clinical problem of finishing despite controlling the possession and creating nearly half a dozen scoring chances. The Maldives got only a couple of scoring chances and succeeded in converting.
Despite Nepal´s one sided dominance in the match, the Maldives Hungarian coach Urbanyi Istvan Bela termed the match to be competitive. "It was a competitive match and my team was well organized," Bela said, adding, "There´s no point in saying that we won due to luck." Regarding Nepal creating more chances, Bela said, "We made mistakes and gave home team space for more moves."
Nepal´s coach confronts with Nepal´s team manager (in black coat)
On Saturday as well, the Maldives was given an opportunity to score following an error in defending lineup. Despite clearing a low ball by his foot defender Sandip Rai attempted to head it but was unsuccessful to clear it.
Defender Jeetendra Karki, who made his debut as replacement of Rabin Shrestha, got the ball slipped by Rai but instead of clearing it he passed it to midfielder Raju Tamang in box and Tamang also back-passed the ball giving space for Rasheed to steal the ball. Rasheed cleverly hit the ball at second bar to send it past diving goalie Ritesh Thapa.
Roberts had made two changes in the starting line up than the match with of Palestine -- he fielded goalie Thapa instead of Kiran Chemjong and chose midfielder Bhola Silwal in Niranjan Khadka´s place.
In the 29th minute, Nepal´s three simultaneous post attacks were denied by the Maldivian defense and goalie Imma Imran. Anil´s strike from the box was blocked by the goalie Imran and midfielder Bharat Khawas´ shot in the rebounder was stopped by a defender from the goalline. Bharat again got the ball and passed it to striker Jumanu Rai but goalie again denied it.
Nepal was unfortunate not to take the lead in 36th minute as midfielder Tamang´s powerful shot from the area in Silwal´s pass rebounded from inner edge of the bar. Two minutes later striker Anil Gurung failed to connect a ball blocked by Imran off Rai´s strike while fallen goalie was still to recover.
In the second half as well, Nepal failed to utilize two scoring chances. Rai´s feeble shot from the box in the 78th minute was easily taken by Imran. A minute later Mohamed Arif defended Santosh Sahukhala´s goal bound strike from the goal-line while goalie Imran was beaten.
The Maldives created its first move in the 16th minute but Adhuham´s left flank shot was denied by goalie Thapa but in its second attempt, it achieved the target.
Palestine, Turkmenistan play goalless draw
Palestine and Turkmenistan played a goalless draw in their second league match on Saturday to boost their chances of qualifying for the semifinals of the AFC Challenge Cup.
With the draw, both the teams are joint top in Group A with four points each. The Maldives is in the second position with three points and Nepal is at the bottom of the points table with two defeats from two matches.
Palestine vs Turkmenistan
In the match played at APF Headquarters, Halchowk, both the teams failed to score a goal. Both the teams failed to create any impressive moves in the first half. With the start of the second half, Palestine attacked Turkmenistan post on regular basis. In the 52nd minute, Sarkisov David of Turkmenistan cleared the ball from the six-yard box. Fahed Attal had provided a cross to Murad Said but he was late on the ball.
In the 63rd minute, Turkmenistan keeper Alyhanov Rahmanberdi denied the shot of Abdulhamid Abuhabib from the danger area. A minute later, he again saved a curling free kick of Asraf Alfawaghra. Rahmanberdi again saved a tricky free kick of Husam Abusalah.
After continuous pressure from Palestine, Turkmenistan players made counter attacks. Substitute Abylov Guvanch´s powerful strike from the six-yard box was blocked by Palestine goalie Tawfiq Abuhammad in the 80th minute. Abuhammad then saved a curling free kick off Gahryman in the 82nd minute.
Palestine vs Turkmenistan
Palestine coach Jamal Mahmoud Abed Mahmoud said that the opponent gave them tough fight but they were happy with the result. “We failed to perform well in the first half and in the second half our players missed chances to score. Our players were tired after the first match against Nepal and we want to win our last league match against the Maldives.”
Turkmenistan coach Yazguky Hojageldiyev said that his team failed to utilize some scoring chances.
“Palestine gave us tough fight and we are satisfied with a point.”
For the last league match against host Nepal, the coach said that Turkmenistan will field a full strength team. He also said that they would be able to perform better at the Dasharath Stadium, which has a far better pitch than that of the Halchowk ground.
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