Nepal quell Bahrain challenge with 2-0 victory

KATHMANDU, SEP 26 -
Nepal started the AFC Under-16 Championship Group C Qualifiers in a confident manner as they bagged three important points after comfortably beating Bahrain 2-0 at Dashrath Stadium on Wednesday.

Nepal, who had lost both their previous encounters—losing 3-2 in 2007 and 5-0 in 2009—against Bahrain, scored goals through Anjan Bista and Ananta Thapa in the first half to confirm Nepal’s win in what was considered a crucial clash.

“It was significant for us to start the tournament on the right note against a formidable opposition,”  said Nepal coach Bal Gopal Maharjan. “The win gives the players confidence for our upcoming games.”

Nepal created pressure on the Bahrain defence from the first whistle as forwards Bimal Gharti Magar and Anjan Bista caused problems from their swift and clever movement. The home team’s early pressure paid off when Bista capitalised on a through ball from Hemanta Thapamagar as he adeptly chipped the ball over goalkeeper Mohammaed Hussain Alazab in the 12th minute.

Nepal had plenty of opportunities to double their advantage as they started to dominate Bahrain after gaining an early lead.

Gharti Magar, who was captaining the U-16 side for the first time, was denied a goal when his strong header from Bikash Thapa’s cross was well saved by Alazab seven minutes later.

Nepal finally got their second when Ananta sheaded Gharti Magar’s swirling free kick home in added time of the first half. The hosts began the second period as they ended first troubling the Bahrain defence and keeping Alazab busy.

Gharti Magar’s long-range effort in the 51st minute was well saved by Alazeb while Alazeb showed tremendous goalkeeping skills to divert Thapa’s one on one effort away from goal 11 minutes later. Bahrain struggled to create any real goal scoring opportunities in the second half but gave Nepal a caution when Mohamed Abdulla Marhoon dribbled past Aakash Thapa only to shoot directly at Goalkeeper Roman Rasaili in the 66th minute.

As the second half progressed, Nepal seemed to rest on their 2 goal lead as Maharjan made a defensive substitution introducing Tshering Gurung as an extra defender in the 70th minute.

“I was pleased that we kept a clean sheet as defence in football is a really important factor. I am happy that our midfield and defence worked hard through out to stop letting them getting chances,” added Maharjan.

Both teams failed to generate any significant chances as the second period drew to finish but the atmosphere at the stadium got heated when substitute Hazeem Alshamshi was sent off in injury time after miss timing a slide tackle on Gharti Magar. Alshamshi was jeered off by the crowd as he was seen directing his foot at Gharti Magar’s face during his miss timed tackle.Disappointed Bharain Coach Daniel Poyatos lamented his team for making mistakes and failing to deal with the duo of Gharti Magar and Bista.

“We should have defended better and stopped their strikers from creating chances at regular intervals. However, I am sure we will improve for our next encounter against Turkmenistan,” said Poyatos.

On the other hand, Maharjan was pleased to see that players were implementing his tactics on the pitch and his confident that they will face favorites Iraq in the same manner who trounced Turkmenistan 8-1 earlier.

Earlier, tournament favourites Iraq started their campaign with a resounding 8-1 victory over Turkmenistan.

Captain Sajjad Al Msharrafawee scored a hatrick as Iraq scored seven goals after the interval to complete

the rout. Akmammet Metdayev scored the only goal for Turkmenistan.

Sports journos flay Anfa’s ill-treatment

KATHMANDU: Sports journalist associated with the Nepal Sports Journalist Forum (NSJF) boycotted Nepal’s opening match of the AFC U-16 Championship Group C Qualifiers against Bahrain  on Wednesday for alleged ill-treatment of journalists by the security guards, employed on the venue by Anfa.  

According to the NSJF, security guards from Garud Security, assigned by the football governing body, misbehaved and harassed more than half a dozen journalists, who had come

to cover the match, at the main entrance of the Dashrath Stadium.

‘We condemn the action of the security guards for harassing the journalist despite presenting the press pass issued by the country’s sport governing body and preventing them from entering the venue, use of foul language and the ill-treatment against media worker,” stated a release issued by NSJF on Wednesday.

NSJF also accused Anfa of dual character for stating the importance of the media in every tournament and at the same time continuing to humiliate sports journalists.

The security guards had also stopped journalists from collect boxing news, ongoing inside the premise.

Anfa was also severely criticised by the visiting teams for poor management and low standards of hotels on Tuesday.

Labels: Highlight, Sports