Nepal crashes out, Palestine qualifies

KATHMANDU, March 7: Host Nepal’s dreams of qualifying for the final rounds were shattered on Wednesday after it played a 0-0 draw in a must-win match against Palestine, which qualified for the finals as the winner from Group D of the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers held at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu.

Nepal needed to win the match by a three-goal margin to qualify for the finals while a draw was enough for Palestine to progress as the group winner. [break]The result also ends the possibility of Nepal securing a finals berth as one of the two best runners-up from among all the five groups.

With the draw, Palestine also remained unbeaten throughout the qualifiers.

This is the second time that Nepal has failed to qualify for the next round while Palestine has made it to the finals for the second time in a row. Nepal had earlier failed to qualify for the 2010 finals after the tournament started being held every two years from 2006.

In Wednesday’s match, Nepal threw a tough challenge to the physically stronger and superior Palestine, which holds the 152nd position in the FIFA rankings compared to Nepal’s 174th.

“There’s no limit to what the Nepali team could do in future,” Nepal’s coach Jack Stefanowski said during the post-match conference. “We gained great experience from the match and we have improved a lot in team unity as well as in all departments -- defense, midfield and forward. The team needs to keep improving in future as well,” said the Polish coach.

Players and officials of Palestine celebrate after their match against Nepal during the AFC Challenge Cup Group D Qualifiers at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu on Wednesday. Also seen in the picture are Nepal’s head coach Jack Stefanowski and others. (Photo: Bikash Karki)

In the competitive match, Nepal created a few more opportunities than Palestine, which made as many as three dangerous attempts on goal. Forward Jumanu Rai, who was included in the starting line-up for the first time replacing regular Santosh Sahukhala, headed inches above the bar in an acute cross from Bharat Khawas.

Palestine replied in the 27th minute when a deflection off KH Salem’s shoulder in Husam Abusalah’s shot rebounded from the crossbar. Earlier, Palestine had made three shots on goal but custodian Kiran Chemjong collected them without any difficulty.

In the 38th minute, Palestine custodian Tawfiq Abuhammad punched in-form winger Jagjeet Shrestha’s cross to safety from below the bar. A moment earlier, Palestine defender had cleared a shot from Nepali skipper Sagar Thapa.

Three minutes into the second half, custodian Abuhammad made a brilliant dive to prevent Jumanu Rai’s header in a freekick taken by Jagjeet Shrestha.

Palestine coach disappointed with fans

Palestine coach Jamal Mahmoud expressed disappointment with Nepali supporters during the post-match conference after the 1-1 draw against Nepal. “I thank Nepal and ANFA that we qualified for the finals but it’s unfair that some of the Nepali fans hurt our players,” said Mahmoud, referring to an incident in which a Palestine player was injured after being hit by an object thrown by Nepali supporters from the ordinary parapet.

Nepal’s match against Bangladesh on Monday was also halted for six minutes after the assistant referee was hit by a mobile set hurled by Nepali supporters soon after Nepal conceded the first goal.

Mahmoud also opined that winning or losing was more important that the level of the team. “We came here with a second choice team and seven members of the team are U-19 players. There is only one senior player in the squad who played the finals of Challenge Cup a year ago in Kathmandu.”

B’desh boosts finals bid

Bangladesh bolstered its chances of entering the finals of AFC Challenge Cup as one of the two best runner-up teams on Wednesday after it achieved a comfortable 4-0 win over bottom-placed Northern Mariana Island (NMI) in the day’s early kick-off.

Bangladesh, which lies second in Group D with six points, however, must wait for all the five groups’ qualifiers to conclude before it can know its fate.

Bangladesh scored the fastest goal of the qualifiers to open the scoring in the very first minute on Wednesday. Mohammad Toklis Ahmed gave his team the early lead in the one-sided match that saw more than a dozen heroic saves from NMI custodian Johann Thomas Noetzel. Noetzel saved a penalty taken by Rony in the 12 minute but Rony made up for it in the 38th minute when he scored with a bouncing header.

Ahmed netted his second goal to make the score 3-1 in the 83rd minute when his strike from the area entered the net after hitting the post. Bangladesh wrapped up the match with another goal in the stoppage time when Md Linkon’s shot entered the net taking a deflection off NMI defender Nicolas Benjamin Swaim. Malaysian referee Mohd Amirul Bin Yaacob, however, awarded the goal to Linkon.

Meanwhile, NMI went closer to scoring for the first time in the qualifiers, but William Otto’s low strike from the area in Peter Benjamin Loken’s pass hit the woodwork.

Bangladesh’s Dutch coach Lodewijik Darius Ke Kruif opined that it was very difficult to play with a ‘weaker’ team like NMI that had nothing to lose.

NMI coach Koo Luam Khen expressed satisfaction at his ‘amateur’ side’s performance.