Maldives maroon Nepal

Maldives, who will look for revenge against holders India who beat the Indian Ocean Islanders, 5-1, in the last SAFF final, struck in the very first minute of the match when the Nepalese defence gave German coach Torsten Spittler yet another nightmare.

Shah Ismail received a quick ball near the centre of the field from Mohd Wildhan and the duo outpaced the napping Nepalese defence. Ismail slotted past goalkeeper Upendra Man Singh to draw first blood. For Spittler it was a tale of two halves.

The first ending with a tongue lashing meted out to his players in the dressing room and an improved second session which he was proud of.

Hari Khadka equalised inthe 65th minute from the penalty spot, taking the award himself after being brought down by Ali Shahin but thoughts of a Nepalese comeback were thrown into oblivion by a determined Maldives who weren’t ready to sit back and force a draw to qualify.

Substitute Maousoon Ali Ghafoor then provided the sparkle to snatch the match from Nepal’s grasp. He set up the second and scored the third with bursts down the left-flank and through the middle respectively.

Ghafoor first found Mohd Wildhan to deliver the coup de grace in the 74th minute and with Maldives in firm control, destroyed Nepal’s defence including experienced stopper Dev Narayan Choudhary and goalkeeper Upendra Man Singh before slotting into an open goal in the 83rd minute.

Nepal, whose fighting spirit pleased Spittler, pulled one back in injury time. Khadka scored his second from a pass by hat-trick hero of the previous match Naresh Joshi, beating Ishag Easa with a powerful left-footer.

Maldives’ Uzbek coach Solokho Vyacheslav thought hisopponents today were relaxed after already having qualified and that his side enjoyed the edge on speed and good fortune.

He however thought that his players reaped the fruits of hard work and skill.The other semi-final pits Bangladesh against Nepal who earn some consolation having to play later on Thursday eveing, besides avoiding a meeting with favourites India. The Nepal coach however refuted notions of viewing the match today as a good one to lose. “I told my players that they must win. I wanted them to look at the Sri Lankan players in the eye and say look we did our best to win but we’re sorry we didn’t.’ ”

The result sends Sri Lanka out of the competition. A Nepalese win by a solitary goal or one of a greater margin would have hauled the Lankans into the semis.