Nepal rout Pakistan
Bangladesh must win tomorrow
Sports Reporter
Nepal got off to a resounding start in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-20 qualifying round with a 3-0 thrashing of Pakistan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday afternoon.Forward Raj Kumar Ghishing, Bijay Gurung and Pradeep Maharajan scored one goal each for the Himalayan Kingdom in their opening Group Five encounter. The outcome of yesterday's match left hosts Bangladesh, who beat Pakistan 1-0 in the inaugural match on Monday, with a must win situation to qualify for the finals when they face Nepal in the last game at the same venue tomorrow. On the other hand, a draw would be enough for Nepal to pip the hosts on goal difference. Nepal justified their pre-match billing as a vastly improved team by taking the lead in the very third minute. A sloppy clearance by the Pakistan defence allowed striker Raj Kumar to take possession of the ball, who then beat his marker before firing the ball into the far corner of the net with a powerful right-footer from an acute angle (1-0). To their credit, Pakistan regrouped and constantly attacked the Nepalese in the remaining minutes of the half but poor finishing let them down. They again got a wonderful chance to equalise after the break when midfielder Farooq Shah's cheeky lob beat an advancing Nepal custodian Bikash Malla only to return to play after kissing the post. With the Pakistanis tiring, Nepal, who were content to soak up the pressure for most of the game, staged a late second half flurry and scored two more goals in the last 20 minutes. Bijay Gurung doubled the margin heading home a Susan Bhandari cross from the right in the 73rd minute while Pradeep, after a brilliant solo run from the left flank, sealed the fate of the Pakistanis with a magnificent left foot volley a minute before the long whistle. With their second defeat on the trot, Pakistan were eliminated from the three-nation qualifying round. Only the group winners qualify for the competition proper scheduled to be held in Malaysia in September 2004. Yellow card: Akhter (Pakistan). Teams Nepal: Bikash, Subash (Birat Thapa), Prashant Giri, Pradeep, Pralaya Rajbhandari, Bijay Gurung, Raj Kumar, Prabin Manandhar, Anjan, Lok Bandhu and Shekhar Thapa. Pakistan: Zulfiqar (Abdullah), Akhter, Umer Farooq, Mubashar, Saleem, Imran, Farooq Shah, Rafiq, Shakoor (Misbah), Ejaj Ahmed and Ahmad (Waqas). Referee: Nishantha Pingamage (Sri Lanka).
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