KATHMANDU: Nepal beat Sri Lanka three against two goals in a match played under the SAFF Championship in the Maldives on Monday evening.
Suman Lama scored the opening spree for Nepal in the 30th minute. Anjan’s Bista’s close shot to the nets in the 51st minute doubled the lead, which, however, was narrowed by the opponents in the 57th minute. Marvin Hamilton’s long range attempt kissed the nets.
The 17-year-old Aayush Ghalan, who entered the pitch as a substitute player, scored his first international goal in the 86th minute.
Sri Lanka, who were awarded a penalty kick, in the injury time, however, could not register the win. Dillion De Silva scored the penalty.
Nepal’s Anjan Bista was declared the man of the match.
With this, Nepal has garnered six points from two consecutive wins. Earlier, it beat the defending champions Maldives 1-0.
Nepal will play its next match against India.
KATHMANDU, October 2: Nepal has made a bright start in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship-2021 currently underway in the Maldives.
In its first match of the competition held at the National Stadium in Male last night, Nepal got the better of the hosts by a solitary goal. Despite holding only 38 per cent of the possession, Nepal kept the Maldives at bay ultimately coming out with a victory in the dying minutes of the match.
Manish Dangi, who came on as a substitute, scored the only goal of the match in the 86th minute, to give a historic win for his country. This is the first time ever that Nepal has defeated Maldives in the SAFF Championship that has been held for the 13th time so far.
Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka are other teams competing in the regional event. The tournament ends on October 16.
In its next match, Nepal will face Sri Lanka on Monday. (RSS)
KATHMANDU: Nepal will begin their SAFF Championship campaign against hosts and defending champions Maldives on Friday.
The game between Nepal and the Maldives will kick-off at 9 PM Maldives time. The opening match of the tournament will be played between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at 4 pm Maldives time.
Nepali side believe they are ready to get the tournament going and hopefully get their hands on the trophy for the first time.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference in Male on Thursday, Assistant Coach Kiran Shrestha said the Maldives will be one tough team against Nepal. "They are a good team and the defending champions. Also they are playing on the home pitch. It will be very hard for us to play against them," said Shrestha.
When asked about which teams were favorites for the tournament, Shrestha said India and Maldives were the team to beat. "India has won it seven times, the Maldives twice," he said. Shrestha added preparations for the Nepali side have been good and the friendlies and closed camp will help them in the tournament.
Nepali team captain Kiran Chemjong said they were ready to put up a fight against the opposition teams. "Maldives will have home advantage and home fans. We respect all the fans but the advantage doesn't matter to us. We are here to fight on the pitch for results," said Chemjong.
Ahead of the Championship, Nepal had played two friendly games against India―drawing one and losing the second―in Kathmandu and also underwent a closed camp in Doha, Qatar.
(with inputs from ANFA)
KATHMANDU, Aug 9: The 13th edition of SAFF Championship will be held in the Maldives from October 1-13.
The SAFF Executive Committee meeting on Monday took the decision after reviewing proposals from both Maldives and Nepal for hosting the championship.
"SAFF decided to hold the Championship in Maldives as the Covid-19 situation there is better than ours. Also it has been long since Maldives last hosted the Championship," ANFA General Secretary Indraman Tuladhar said.
The last time the Championship was held in Maldives was in 2008. Maldives and Sri Lanka had jointly hosted the Championship which was won by Maldives.
Five nations―Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka―have confirmed their participation in the Championship while Bhutan will confirm its participation in three days.
Nepal had received a conditional hosting offer from SAFF to hold the Championship. Both Nepal and Maldives had submitted proposals to host the championship.
The biennial men's football championship has been held twice in Nepal, first in 1997 and the second in 2013 where Nepal lost to Afghanistan in the semi-final.
India has been the most successful country in the championship lifting the title on seven occasions. Nepal are yet to reach the final of the Championship.
