Colombo, August 19:

Yugal Kishor Rai and Jumanu Rai scored two goals each as fired-up Nepali Under-23 football team thrashed Afghanistan 5-1 and entered the South Asian Games semi-finals as the Group B winners here at the Sugathdasa Stadium today.

Vijay Gurung opened the scoring for the Nepali squad in the 15th minute when he slammed home the brilliant left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area following a pass from Jumanu Rai.

Jumanu Rai doubled the tally two minutes later through a header in rebound, while Yugal Kishor Rai made it 3-0 in the 19 th minute with a close-range goal.

Yugal scored his second and team’s fourth goal moments before the first-half whistle. Yugal slotted home an easy ball on Jumanu Rai’s pass inside the penalty area. Mustata reduced the margin to 4-1 nine minutes into the second half, but Jumanu Rai restored the four-goal margin in the 62nd minute following Vijay Gurung’s pass.

The win put Nepal into the last four in the regional tournament for the first time since 1998 SAF Games held in Kathmandu. In their previous encounter, Nepal had defeated Afghsnistan 4-0 at Dasharath Stadium in Asia Cup qualifier in 2003. “They exceeded my expectations today,” said coach Shyam Thapa. “We will beat any opponent in any level if they play like this,” he added praising the players for their enthusiastic show.

Skipper Ritesh Thapa was also happy with his boys’ performance and was of the same view as his coach. “They played really well today. We can win the championship if we continue playing like this,” he added.

Earlier, India defeated Bangladesh 2-1 and made it to the last four from the same group. In another match, defending champion Pakistan registered a 1-0 win over hosts Sri Lanka in Group A.

Tight security?

COLOMBO: The match was nearing its end and Nepal was in the unbeatable position with 5-1 lead. With just two minutes left, the match took an U-turn.

It started with Afghanistan’s Manuchehar pulling down Jumanu Rai at Afghanistan’s half while the ball was on play at Nepal’s half. Referee V Aruna De Silva of Sri Lanka, after consulting fourth official Abas Daud of Singapore, red carded the player. After the incident, the Afghanistani players and officials came out of the players’ box and threw water bottles and a cartoon-box at the stand where Nepali media persons and fans were sitting.

The fans and the journalists protested the incident with the nearby security, but went unheard. Later after the match, the Afghanistani players tried to thrash the Nepali fans and scribes. One of the player charged with the water bottle that hit Nepal TV reporter Sanjeev Silpakar’s forehead. Luckily, it survived was a half-emptied plastic bottle and Silpakar escaped injury.

All these happened but the security personnel deployed at the main venue remained mute spectators. Instead they evacuated the stadium barring Nepali journalists from interviewing coaches. — HNS