Nepal's offence explodes as Maldives endures 11-goal drubbing in SAFF

Kathmandu, Oct. 22: There were five goal scorers for Nepal on Monday against the Maldives as the hosts showered almost a dozen goals against the visitors in front of over 6,600 home fans at Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu.

A five-goal haul by Rekha Poudel and a hat-trick by Preeti Rai were supported by a goal each from Sabita Rana Magar, Amisha Karki and Anita KC as Nepal destroyed the Maldives with a score of 11-0 by the end of the 90 minutes. 

With the win, Nepal earned three points and stands atop Group B in the 7th SAFF Women’s Championship. They are followed by Bhutan, the team that played a goalless draw with Nepal on October 18, as they defeated Sri Lanka in the first match of Monday by a score of 4-1. Nepal surpassed Bhutan in terms of goal difference to take the top spot in the group’s points table.

Rekha, who returned to Nepal for the tournament by playing for Abu Dhabi in the AFC Women’s League, did not let the Nepali fans feel the shortage of Nepal’s goal-machine Sabitra Bhandari aka Samba, who arrived in Nepal Sunday midnight from France.  

“I placed a 3-5-2 formation against the Maldives as I knew we need not focus on our defence so much. Samba was not brought in as she needed rest from jet lag, fatigue and lack of sufficient nutrition. The changes in the Playing XI were also based on my analysis of the Maldivian team,” said Rajendra Tamang, head coach of the Nepali women’s team.

Compared to the Playing XI against Bhutan, Tamang made five changes on Monday. Nepal’s captain and goalie Anjila Tumbapo Subba, Puja Rana, Amisha Karki, Hira Kumari Bhujel and Amrita Jaishi were replaced by Anjana Rana Magar, Bimala BK, Rekha, Bimala Chaudhary and Amrita Jaishi respectively. 

“In the first game against Bhutan, players were focused on individual plays and it affected the match. Today, against the Maldives, it was a team game and it paved the way for goals,” said Tamang.

Across the 90 minutes of the game, Nepal had 35 shots attempted on the Maldives’ goalpost; of them, 22 were on target. Similarly, Nepal earned 14 corners, most of them as a result of the opponents clearing the ball due to risk. Moreover, Nepal dominated possession from the beginning to the end with Nepal’s goalie Magar, and later substituted Usha Nath, being left with most freedom.

On the other hand, it was Preeti Rai who opened the goal tally for Nepal. She scored from near the corner spot in the 5th minute and completed her hat-trick with a penalty in the 87th; the second goal from Preeti came in the 65th.

It was Sabita, who made it 2-0, in the 28th minute following which Rekha opened her account on the 31st. Rekha then found goals in the 41st, 47th, 63rd and 78th minutes to score five individual goals in a match.

“I am thankful for the teammates as their support was what allowed me to score so many goals. We entered the ground to play as a team and that is what we did,” said Rekha. 

Likewise, in less than a minute of entering as a substitute, Anita KC scored in the 68th minute and Amisha Karki scored the final and 11th goal of the team in the 88th.

“We should not be proud for scoring 11 goals past a team like the Maldives as they do not have good players and a footballing environment for girls back home. However, we are glad for the three points and we look forward. My eyes are all on entering the semi-final and facing tougher opponents,” said Tamang.

Nevertheless, in the points table, Nepal is followed by Bhutan in the second position with 4 points in two matches. Sri Lanka is now in third position with three points that they earned from a 1-0 win over the Maldives on October 18.

Nepal now faces Sri Lanka and Bhutan will meet the Maldives on October 24. Before that, India and Bangladesh will settle their match on October 23.