Nepali girls beat India 1-0

The home team sets up title clash with B’desh

KATHMANDU, April 25: Nirmala Upadhayay scored a winner for defending champion Nepal as it continued its unbeaten streak in the AFC U-14 Girls' Regional Championship of South and Central Asia after defeating India 1-0 in a vigorously contested semifinal at the Dasharath Stadium on Friday.

Nepal will take on Bangladesh, which defeated Islamic Republic of Iran 2-0 later on the day, in the summit clash.

But it was India which made a bright start and pushed Nepal to defending duty with its strength and pace advantage for most part of the first half. The home team took its time to settle down and gained confidence completing numerous quick exchanges as the match matured.

India made three dismal attempts on the goal early in the match but all were misfired and did not trouble Nepali goalie Rabita Kumari, who was quick and sharp throughout.

India's best opportunity came in the 35th minute when Karishma made a darting a run from midway against the run of play. Having ample time and space, Rabita was the only Karishma's hurdle but the latter fired her attempt above the bar from close range.

The second half saw Nepal playing with more flair and confidence. Nepal got more into attack with the opening of the sky.

Amid the raucous support of home fans, Nepal finally attained what it was striving for in the 44th minute. Nepal broke the deadlock with a brilliant goal through Nirmala, who dispatched a powerful shot past Indian goalie Ketaki Mangala Tyagi from inside the area after Manjali Kumari had sent her through, to send the crowd into rapture.

Central striker Rekha Poudel, who was the epicenter of Nepal's every moves, nearly doubled the advantage five minutes from time slotting home from inside the area off the corner but it was ruled offside.

Nepal's coach Kishore KC said that it was a clear goal which was declined by the official, adding that he was more confident about retaining the title.

"The official made a serious mistake of not counting that goal. Once the ball passes the goalie, it is always counted as a goal but not offside," he said.

"We are very hopeful about winning the title. We came under pressure in the first half but went into second with new strategy."

Indian coach Maymol Rocky attributed Nepal's win as favored by luck.

"The match was evenly contested but we were the better side in the first half. Nevertheless, we were not good at converting our chances. Nepal had crowd and weather advantage over us. Though we enjoyed better possession, Nepal was lucky," she said.

For Bangladesh, Krishna Rani and Marzia scored on either side of the half to fix its meeting in the final against Nepal.

Krishna broke the deadlock in the 28th minute while Marzia sealed victory adding another in the 61st minute.