Lalitpur, December 17

Sabitra Bhandari scored the solitary goal as Nepal recorded a 1-0 victory over Malaysia in an women’s international friendly match here at the ANFA Complex grounds today.

Fed by Dipa Rai at the edge of the box, Bhandari found the back of the nets with her left-footed shot that beat Malaysian custodian Nurul Azurin Mazlan in the 27th minute.

Both the teams fielded majority of new faces in the match with six of the Nepali players making their international debut. Coach Kumar Thapa included rookies Gita Rana, Sharmila Thapa and Manjali Kumari Yonjan in starting XI and brought in goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar, Saru Limbu and Nirmala BK as substitutes.

The home team dominated the ball possession and had more attempts on Malaysian goal. “I am happy to score an international goal in the first-ever friendly match against Malaysia,” said Bhandari. Nepal created numbers of goal scoring chances but Malaysian goalkeeper Mazlan stood firm at the goal. Bhandari’s shot from the box in the 58th minute was punched out by the 17-year-old Mazlan, who made another brilliant save in the 67th minute denying Manjali Kumari Yonjan.

Nepal team coach Kumar Thapa said his side needed to work on the coordination between midfield and forward. “There was good coordination between the goalkeeper and defense line but I did not see such thing between midfield and forward,” said Thapa. “I will work on that,” said Thapa. For Nepal the match as part of preparation for the upcoming Women’s SAFF Championship scheduled for December 26 to January 4 in Siliguri, India.

“Our goalkeeper Mazlan performed well in her debut match and my experiment was fruitful,” said Malaysian coach Mohd Asyraaf Abdullah, who praised Nepali team’s performance. “Nepali team was organised and the players were also physically stronger than us. We often play against Thailand and Myanmar and I found Nepal like them,” he said.