Sports Correspondent – The News
KARACHI: Defending champions Pakistan on Wednesday crashed out of the event when they went 0-3 down against Nepal in their vital Group A game of the 2nd Under-16 SAFF Championship at the Dashrath Stadium in Nepal.
Nepal, as a result, qualified for the semi-finals along with Afghanistan who defeated Bhutan 3-1 at the Army Sports Centre Ground in the other match of the day.
“It is really a disappointing performance from our colts,” Pakistan Football Federation’s (PFF) Director Development and Competitions Pervez Saeed Mir told ‘The News’ from Lahore on Wednesday.
“The preparation was right and the players were also motivated but I think they were a bit overconfident,” said Mir.
A couple of years back Pakistan lifted the title after beating India 2-1 in the final also played in Kathmandu.
In a rain-soaked encounter, Nepal got off to a fine start when Sujan Limbu struck for them in the 13th minute after guiding a clever pass from the left-out into the net.
At half-time, the hosts were leading 1-0. After the breather Nepal looked awesome, inflicting incisive rallies from both wings, scoring two more goals. It was Bimal Gharti Maga who hit a brace by scoring goals in the 65th and 73rd minutes to seal a convincing victory for the hosts.