Nepal continues to dominate: Beats SL 6:0, heads to finals

Nepal continued their superiority while remaining the only undefeated team of the tournament to qualify for the grand finale on Wednesday after crushing the Sri Lankans by six goals to nil at the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Under-17 Soccer Championship at the Race Course Stadium in Colombo yesterday.

After outsmarting India in their preliminary round game by 3-1, the Nepal lads went on the rampage over the host team by scoring four goals in the first half, after being a barren passage of play for almost 20 minutes. 

The Lankan charges did exceptionally well within the first 20 minutes, depriving the rival players from finding inroads and sneaking through their defence. But, due to an obstruction in the Lankan box area, referee offered a penalty for Nepal which Prashant Laksam did no mistake with the kick to place them in the lead. 

With this the scoring move the flood gates opened as the winners added three more goals within the next 29 minutes (with four minutes of added extra time). Harish Raj Bhatta booted his first goal at the 23 minute while Subash Bam and Niraj Karki’s kicks found the goal net scored in the 31 and 38 minutes respectively to go for breather 4-0.

After the turn around, the Lankan camp made some positional changes by swapping the players. But Nepal strikers never allowed the rivals to settle and netted their fifth goal of the match in the 57 minute through Unesh Bhudatoki. With this goal the losers opted to pack their defence rather than adopting a semi-offensive play. 

The Lankan players made some valiant effort to score a consolation goal but were unable to make an impact on the score line as Nepal placed the final nail on the coffin with Sijal Rai’s goal at the brink of the full time to notch up a comprehensive win.

In the earlier game, team India halted the high riding Bangladesh’s unbeaten run with a two goals to one win. It was a spirited performance by the winners who bounce back to win this game after losing to Nepal few days back. They played to a well-executed plan and never allowed their rivals take an upper hand on the game while making some teasing moves. 

With this win, India will take on Nepal in the final on Wednesday at 7 p.m.