Nepal rally to hold Maldives
Football SAFF Championship
Nepal and Maldives lit up the proceedings with an exciting 1-1 draw but the opening day failed to produce a winner as the SAFF Cup football tournament kicked off here on Friday.
In the first match of the day, Pakistan and Bangladesh played out a goalless draw.
In a stark contrast to the opening encounter, which had only a clutch of spectators, a vociferous crowd greeted Nepal and Maldives under the floodlit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Nepal played a fast paced game and made several inroads into the Maldives defence though without any success. The match looked set for a goalless first session when a thundering drive from Maldives captain Ali Ashfaq at the stroke of half-time changed the equation.
This, however, did not douse the spirits of the Nepalese fans, whose cheering only grew louder as their side walked in after the interval. Nepal didn’t disappoint their fans as they made amends early in the second half, equalising through a sensational header by Sandip Rai in the 64th minute. Rai rose high amidst a crowd of defenders to put the ball into the corner.
Nepal coach Graham Roberts said Maldives were lucky to escape with a draw. “We played a great game and I think Maldives were lucky to escape with one point. If we play like this, then we can give any team a fight in the tournament,” he said.
The Pakistan-Bangladesh match was a dull affair. Pakistan played an attacking first-half but Bangladesh were better in the second essay.
Bangladesh wasted an opportunity to go up when Ariful Islam headed into the cross-piece but Pakistan goalkeeper Jafar Khan was swift to collect the rebound. For Pakistan, their strikers Jadeed Khan Pathan and Hasnain Abbas toiled hard but failed to finish.
Pakistan coach Zavisa Milosavljevich rued the lack of a finisher in the team. “We are happy with the draw because they are higher ranked than us,” he said.
Bangladesh’s Macedonian coach Nikola Ilievsk found Pakistan a motivated lot after their World Cup qualifiers loss.
India begin their campaign on Saturday against Afghanistan.
