On Monday, Nepal played a goalless draw against Sri Lanka at the Dasharath Stadium. Defending champions North Korea too qualified as the winners from the group.[break]
Nepal, which had earlier beaten Afghanistan 1-0 and lost to Korea by identical margin, earned four points from three matches. Korea´s 2-0 victory over Afghanistan at the Halchowk Ground eased Nepal´s way.
This is the second time Nepal has secured a berth for the AFC Challenge Cup finals through qualifiers after 2008. In the inaugural edition in 2006, after a direct entry, Nepal had reached the semifinal.
Korea and Nepal will join Palestine, Philippines, India, Turkmenistan, Maldives and Tajikistan in the eight-team finals to be held next year. The venue is yet to be finalized.
Nepal´s English coach Graham Roberts lauded the team´s effort. “Our target was to qualify for the final stage and we did it,” the former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur player in the English Premier League said. “We are not as weak as we were sometimes labeled. The boys fulfilled their duties well in the qualifiers.”
In the drab affair between hosts Nepal and the Sri Lanka at the Dasharath Stadium, Nepal could not prove itself better over the visitors at the stadium crowded with home spectators.
The match featured lack of coordination and lots of miss-passes. The midfield consisting of Bharat Khawas, Bhola Silwal and Nirajan Khadka in the starting lineup seemed poor. Khadka was replaced by Raju Tamang in the 60th minute. Strikers Jumanu Rai and Anil Gurung could not be effective as well. In the 54th minute, Bharat Khawas was replaced by forward Santosh Sahukhal but even his presence could not add anything worth the mention.
But as on previous matches, the defense line-up consisting of skipper Sagar Thapa, Rohit Chand, Sandip Rai, Biraj Maharjan and Deepak Bhusal were in best tune.
Both Nepal and Sri Lanka could not make a single attack on the target other than a free-kick each. Nepal created a couple of attractive moves but again repeated their clinical problems in finishing.
The only post attack from Nepali side came in the 63rd minute through freekick of Sandip Rai which was saved by Lankan goalie Manjula Fernando with some difficulty. In the 22nd minute, Anil Gurung could not meet Biraj
Maharjan´s long pass ahead of post and in the 36th minute, Gurung´s left flank strike went wide from the post.
Coach Roberts defended his team´s nervous show, stating that his boys were too tired to play three matches in less than five days. “We did not play well in the first half, but we played better in the second half.”
Sri Lanka´s South Korean coach Jang Jung said they were in the process of team building. “I am not much disappointed as the most members of the squad are young.”
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