Kathmandu, September 20

Manish Dangi scored an equaliser as Nepal rallied for a 1-1 stalemate with Maldives in the opening match of the SAFF U-18 Championship here at the Nepal APF Club grounds today.

The two-time defending champions Nepal fell behind in the 13th minute through Nazeem Hassan’s goal and Dangi came to salvage the draw for the home team in the 75th minute.

Nepal found the back of the nets early in the 11th minute but Nitin Thapa’s strike was ruled offside. Nepal defender Roshan Dong brought down Nazeem Hassan inside the danger zone resulting into a penalty kick and the Maldives skipper himself converted from the spot to put the visitors ahead in the 13th minute.

Maldives goalkeeper Hassan Aleef made a double save in the 20th minute when he denied Brijesh Chaudhary with the initial shot and then recovered on time to stop the ball in rebound. The home side failed to put desired performance in the first half as the players lacked coordination among them.

Nepal went into the second half as a different team and played attacking football that restricted the Maldives to their own half. Nepal pressed hard for an equaliser and created at least half-a-dozen scoring chances but the forwards let the team down.

Nepal were unlucky in the 53rd minute when Nitin Thapa’s strike went inches above the cross bar, while Brijesh Chaudhary headed wide six minutes later. Akash Budha Magar charged the post from 20 yards but his powerful shot was brilliantly saved by Maldives goalkeeper Aleef in the 68th minute, two minutes after the custodian denied Manish Dangi in one-on-one situation. Nitin Thapa struck against the cross bar in the 71st minute.

Nepal finally found the back of the nets in the 75th minute when Dangi headed home from just outside the six-yard box following a cross from Brijesh Chaudhary. Nepal came close to scoring the winning goal in the fifth minute of the injury time but they could not score in three attempts.

Jaya Gurung’s header on a corner kick from Shishir Lekhi was stopped by Maldives defender and Dangi’s shot in rebound hit the cross bar. Maldives defender then made a goal-line clearance to deny Darshan Gurung at a time when goalkeeper Aleef was not in his position.

Nepal coach Chet Narayan Shrestha said the luck was not on his team’s part in the match. “It’s a bad luck. We created numerous chances but the players just could not convert them,” said Shrestha. “We were not up to the mark in finishing as the forward line wasted a number of chances created by the midfield. And Maldives defenders and goalkeeper played well,” he added.

Maldives coach Mohamed Shazly was also not satisfied with his team’s overall performance. “Nepal is a good team and we could not play well against a tough side,” said Shazly. “We were under pressure throughout the match and that did not allow us to play our natural game. And we were also lucky today,” he added.

On Saturday, Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka. A total of six teams are taking part in the third edition of the tournament. Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives are in Group A, while India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are in Group B. Top two sides from both the pools will make it to the semi-finals.