KATHMANDU, March 2: Nepali striker Bharat Khawas scored a hat-trick as the home team thrashed the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI) 6-0 in their first match of the AFC Challenge Cup Group D Qualifiers played at Dasharath Stadium in the capital on Saturday.
Khawas made a hat-trick, scoring in the fourth, 41st and 72nd minutes of the match. Fellow striker Santosh Sahukhala scored in the 30th minute. Raju Tamang scored the fourth goal on a penalty kick in the 60th minute, while Sandip Rai netted the fifth goal in the 67th minute. [break]
In the earlier match played at the same venue, Palestine defeated Bangladesh 1-0. Palestine scored the decider in the 78th minute of the match. Nepal will face Bangladesh on Monday and Palestine on Wednesday.
Nepal is expected to dominate today´s match against the ´relatively weaker´ team, which has not got full membership of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) till now and is yet to get FIFA rankings. The Nepali team´s last victory was the 1-0 win against Bangladesh during the group stage of 2011 SAFF Championship.
Nepal´s biggest margin victory was the 5-0 win against East Timor during the World Cup Qualifiers in July 2011. Since, Nepal has played 17 matches, scoring six and conceding 35 goals. Nepal has not won any of its last 12 matches.
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