Maldives and Nepal decimated their opponents on the opening day of the 4th SAFF Women’s Championship at Siliguri, India.
Sri Lanka v Maldives
Maldives Women’s national team captain Fadhuwa Zahir scored a hat-trick against Sri Lanka to beat them by 5-2.
Mariyam Rifa opened the scoring in the 24th minute while Fadhuwa doubled the lead three minutes later with her first.
Confident Sri Lanka Women aiming a finals spot
However Sri Lanka will have the tough task of adapting to the climate in Siliguri which is near the Himalayan mountain range.
Sri Lanka skipper Erandi Liyanage pulled one goal back just before the half time break while Maheshika Kumudini leveled things during injury time in the first half.
Half time – Sri Lanka 2 – 2 Maldives
Sri Lanka was unable to sustain the pressure in the 2nd half however as Maldives bounced back with Fadhuwa making it 3-2 in the 64th minute.
With Sri Lanka chasing the game, Fadhuwa put the game beyond doubt completing her hat-trick in the 80th minute and Aminath Shamila added the 5th in the 88th minute completing the rout.
It was surprise defeat for Sri Lanka who just over a year ago defeated Maldives 3-0 in a friendly at home.
Full time – Sri Lanka 2 – 5 Maldives
Goal Scorers
Sri Lanka – Erandi Liyanage 43’, Maheshika Kumudini 45+2’
Maldives – Mariyam Rifa 24’, Fadhuwa Zahira 27’, 64’ & 80’, Aminath Shamila 88’
Women’s squad for SAFF Championship
The Sri Lanka National Women’s squad was announced by the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) for the upcoming 2016 SAFF Women’s Championship.
Nepal v Bhutan
Nepal started its campaign in the 4th SAFF Women’s Championship with a thumping 8-0 win over Bhutan at Kanchanjunga Stadium in Siliguri, India on Monday.
Sabitra Bhandari, who is playing as a lone central forward, scored a double hat trick, while Krishna Khatri and Sharmila Thapa scored a goal each for the Nepali side.
Bhandari scored in the 5th, 9th, 23rd, 35th, 72nd and 77th minutes while Thapa and Khatri scored in the 25’ and 90’ respectively.
Nepal’s head coach Kumar Thapa was happy with the win and said the score-line was more than he expected.
“The score line is very convincing and I am happy. Bhutan is not a bad team but things did not go their way today. Our forward line was good and we got the deserving result,” said Thapa.
He also said that this match will be a great boost for upcoming matches.
“This was more of a testing match for us and we got to check the ground status well. We used three substitutes and all of them worked as per my plan”, he added.
When asked about his views on India, Thapa said, “We are just in the group stage now and we just played our first match. For now, we are solely focused on Maldives and then it will be Sri Lanka. The rest depends upon the outcomes.”
Goal Scorers
Nepal – Sabitra Bhandari 5’, 9’, 23’, 35’, 72’ & 77’, Sharmila Thapa 25’, Krishna Khatri 90’
Group A
