SAFF Championship: Final equation exciting with Maldives win

KATHMANDU: OCT. 8 – In the SAfF Championship Football, the home team the Maldives defeated Bangladesh to clinch its first victory in the tournament. Maldives maintained their chances of reaching the final by defeating Bangladesh 2-0 in a match played at the National Stadium in Male on Thursday night.

Hamza Mohamed and Ali Ashfaq scored one goal each in the victory of Maldives. Hamza scored in the 55th minute to give the Maldives an early lead. Then in the 74th minute, Ashfaq scored from the penalty spot to give the Maldives a comfortable 2-0 victory.

After the victory, he has added 3 points in 2 games. Maldives has risen to third place. In the first match, Maldives lost 1-0 to Nepal. This is Bangladesh’s first defeat. Earlier, Bangladesh had won one and drawn one. Bangladesh is in second place with 4 points.

With the victory of Maldives, the final equation of SAFF has become exciting. Two teams from Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and India will play for the title in the final. Nepal will now reach the final if they win one of the two games and draw both games.

But if Nepal loses both games and Maldives wins both games, Maldives and Bangladesh can reach the final. Similarly, if India wins the rest of the game, the possibility of India and Maldives will remain. Only Sri Lanka is out of the competition.

However, as Nepal is in excellent rhythm, it will not be easy for Bangladesh and India to play against Nepal. Only five teams have participated in the current season. The top two teams in the league stage will advance to the finals in a round-robin competition.