Kathmandu, July 17

Nepali youth team faced a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Uzbekistan in their second match of the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers at the Tahnon Bin Mohamed Stadium in Al Ain City, UAE today.

Nepal, who went down to the hosts UAE 5-0 in the opening match of the Group D on Saturday, conceded one goal each in either half. Tursunov Dostenbek opened the scoring for Uzbekistan in the 21st minute. Uzbekistan, who had defeated Lebanon 3-1 in their opener on Saturday, added one more after the interval. Ganiev Azizjon doubled the advantage when he found the back of the nets in the 80th minute.

Nepal will now face Lebanon in their last match on Wednesday. The participating 39 teams have been divided into 10 groups and the winners of all the pools will earn berths in the finals along with five best runners-up. The championship will be held in China next year.