Maldives sqeeze Lanka dry

KATHMANDU, SEPT 24: Jordan Nanov Stoykov got up from the bench and took a few hesitant steps towards the turf. He then looked up at the s...

KATHMANDU, SEPT 24: Jordan Nanov Stoykov got up from the bench and took a few hesitant steps towards the turf. He then looked up at the stands and saw a bunch of flag-waving supporters and managed a weak smile. The day’s job well accomplished, the satisfied Bulgarian coach of Maldives football team turned towards the entrance as he was surrounded by a group of journalists.

Stykov did not have much to say, except that his boys “were great. They played with unity and determination.”

All these qualities and more were on display here today at the Dasrath Rangshala as the first event of the eighth edition of the South Asian Federation Games saw Maldives, the 1991 SAF Games champion thrash Sri Lanka 4-0.

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Sri Lanka were reportedly shaping up well after a string of good performances on their recent training-cum-competition stint in Thailand. However, their new Malaysian coach M Karuthu failed to inspire his team, who were 0-1 down at half time. The new-look side, without star striker Roshan Pareira, werefound themselves out of depth against the fast and well organised Maldivians.

There were few to witness the pleasant, attacking brand of football displayed by Maldives. But the small Maldives contingent was in full strength to cheer on their heroes. They sang, waved and danced all through the game that was dominated completely by their countrymen. The livewire in the Maldives attack were strikers Mausoom Abdul Ghafoor and Ali Shiham. The two in company of Adam Latheef ran patterns around the ragged Sri Lankan defence. Their short passes and co-ordination were a treat, even though the game failed to rise to any heights.

Sri Lanka were unlucky not go ahead 1-0 up midway through the first half when two consecutive attempts by Weerasinghe and Galaboda Payagalage found the bar. That was the only time the Lankans came close to scoring.

Maldives struck the first blow in the 25th minute. Captain Mohammed Ibrahim — who was composed in the defence — converted a penalty after the referee penalised goakeeperThilakarathna for bringing down Shiham who had raced into the box on a pass from Abdul Ghafoor.

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Maldives kept up the pressure but the floodgates opened at the beginning of the second half. Shiham moved up from half line and passed on to Latheef, who beat an advancing Thilakarathna. The third goal came soon as Shiham scored this time, the cross coming from the right flank by Abdul Ghafoor.

The game got a bit rough towards the end with the clueless Lankans resorting to hard tackles. Three Lankans were shown yellow cards by the referee. And just as the spectators decided to make a beeline for the gates, Maldives made it 4-0, Abdullah Ibrahim getting his name in the scoresheet.

The formal opening of the Games is scheduled for tomorrow evening.