So near and yet so far as game ends in tame draw

Sri Lanka’s Claudio Matthias makes a move to clear the ball as he is challenged by TY Sa of Cambodia

• Lions miss seven scoring opportunities

By Althaf Nawaz 

It was so near and yet so far as both hosts Sri Lanka and Cambodia settled for a tame nil-all draw in their first leg match of the AFC Asia Cup 2027 Qualifier (Saudi Arabia) at Race Course Stadium yesterday.

Even though the score card was a barren one at the long whistle, the Golden Lions put up charismatic performance from the outset, but lady luck did not favour them as they missed seven scoring opportunities in the entire game.

With the influence of interim coach Abdullah Al Mutairi, who has played a pivotal role in moulding this team, to put up a swashbuckling performance, the end result was a bit of a disappointment.

After some anxious moments of play, the hosts improvised and exerted immense pressure on the rival camp by keeping possession of the ball. At one stage the game looked like a one-horse race where the Lankans might surge home quite comfortably. But after some tantalising moments of play, both teams were scoreless at lemons.

After the turn around, visitors substituted a couple of their players in an effort to stem the onslaught. On field, referee Sultan Yousef Alhammadi had to resort to showing two yellow cards to each team to calm down nerves, after some intensive play. However, the aspirations of both teams ended scoreless as the game ended in a draw. The coach will now assess the performance of his charges and pick a winning team for the second leg in Cambodia, on 10 of this month. 

The Cambodian head coach Augustin Ganzulez Dalmas was full of praise for the hosts and said, “We had to fight tooth and nail to salvage a draw. That shows how they have transformed as a team. We played according to a plan, yet were unable to create scoring opportunities. The second leg is going to a tough one for both of us; yet we will go all out to get a positive result.”

Dalmas counterpart Al Mutairi had a mixed reaction, yet was determined that his boys are still capable of turning tables in five days. “All praise to God. It would have been nicer if we could have scored and won the game. We promised the football loving fraternity that we will display a different pattern of play than the usual one, which we exploited. We were unable to execute finishing touches on the given chances but played according to plan. Nevertheless, we assure the people of this country that we will go all out to get a positive result and to qualify for the next round of this competition,” said Al Mutairi.