Nepal has virtually crashed out of the group stage though there´s still a mathematical chance for qualification. But for the home team´s qualification into next stage there should be a miracle. [break]
Not only will a victory be sufficient for Nepal to make it to the next stage, but it would have to beat Saudi Arabia by four goals margin and Syria must also beat Oman in another match scheduled to be played at the APF ground, Halchowk.
To get victory over Saudi Arabia, dubbed as strongest team of the group, will be herculean task for the home team and four goals four goals margin will be a distant dream. Saudi Arabia is ranked 78 and Nepal 136 in the FIFA senior men´s rankings.
However, nothing is impossible in football.
Nepal is the only team in the four team qualifiers which has not only remained pointless but also goalless. Nepali team will be playing against Saudi Arabia to save its face.
"Now we don´t have any more chances of qualifying into next round. Our match against Saudi Arabia will be a face saving match," Nepali coach Sunil Shrestha had said during the post match conference after losing second match in a row against Oman.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia will look forward to scoring as many goals as possible against Nepal as it has not yet confirmed its spot for the next round.
And the equation is wide open for the remaining three teams other than Nepal. Both Saudi Arabia and Oman has three points each after playing equal two matches while Syria tops the group maintaining winning run with six points.
Not only will victory be sufficient for Saudi Arabia to advance into next stage. It would also need to have better goal difference than Oman, given the chance that Oman beat leader Syria. Saudi has better goal superiority (2) than Oman (-1).
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