Sri Lanka and Nepal booked their places in the semi finals of the 3rd SAFF Women’s Football Championship with impressive wins over Bhutan and Pakistan.
Sri Lanka defeated Bhutan 3-0 while Nepal had a 2-0 win over a much improved Pakistan at the Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad. Sri Lanka in their opening match defeated hosts Pakistan 2-1 while Bhutan was on the back of a heavy 8-0 loss to Nepal.
Sri Lanka got the better of Bhutan with Achala Chithrani breaking the deadlock in the 20th minute. Erandi Kumudumala with her second goal in as many matches made it 2-0 just before half time.
Sri Lanka continued their dominance in the second half but poor finishing let them down. Two minutes before full time Praveena Perera scored the third goal.
In the match against Nepal and Pakistan Anu Lama and Sajana Rana scored a goal each giving Nepal a 2-0 win.
This was Pakistan’s best performance against Nepal after suffering heavy defeats in all three previous meetings. Nepal defeated Pakistan 7-0 at the South Asian Games in 2010. Later that year, Nepal thrashed Pakistan 12-0 at the SAFF Championship and 8-0 at the 2012 SAFF Championship.
It was thanks to the brilliant game Pakistan’s Syeda Mahpara had between the posts, saving several goal bound efforts including a penalty in the 83rd minute.
Anu Lama gave Nepal the lead in the 13th minute, while Rana scored from the spot 10 minutes later after Renuka Nagarkoti was brought down inside the box. Rana also had another opportunity from the penalty spot but Syeda saved her effort.
Nepal coach Kumar Katwal was not satisfied with the team’s overall performance. “We missed so many chances to score, which is not good in football,” said Katwal.
“Pakistan has certainly improved. We’re all collectively impressed with Mahpara. She single-handedly prevented a big win for us.” Katwal further added.
Nepal skipper Lama said the match turned out to be more competitive than the team had expected. “We had not expected such a tough fight from Pakistan. We missed a host of scoring chances today and that needs to be improved in our next matches,” said Lama.
The win put Nepal on top of the Group B standings with six points ahead of Sri Lanka. Nepal will take on Sri Lanka on Sunday in their last group match, which will also determine the group winner.
