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Kathmandu,Thursday January 27, 2000 Magh 13th, 2056.
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Thailand
beat Nepal Blue 2-0
By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, Jan 26 - Royal
Thai Airforce set up Friday’s semifinal against Nepal Red, finishing at the top of
Group B with a 2-0 win Wednesday over Nepal Blue in the last league outing of the
ANFA-Coca Cola International Invitational football tournament.
Nepal Blue, coming up with
some swift runs down the flanks, managed to apply early pressure on the more mature Thai
team. But they had to finish on the losing end due to inadequate firepower as well as for
the brilliance of Thailand’s first choice keeper, Kumpant, who had a good match under
the bars today making several breathtaking saves.
Deepak Lama failed to finish
off a half chance he received as early as in the fourth minute while Nirajan Rayamajhi put
out a clear goal in the 23rd minute from close range following a scramble.
"Infact I was expecting
a semifinal between the two Nepalese sides," the Nepalese national team coach,
Stephen Constantine said later. "Nevertheless the boys played well to give a tough
fight against a much stronger opposition."
"Some of them are good
enough to make it into the national side," he said.
The young Nepalese side,
marshalled by the tough national defender Sameer Nemkul, however, forced the opposition
attackers to work really hard, rarely conceding room to them.
They were unfortunate to give
away a penalty at the stroke of half-time. Rajendra Tamang’s tackle on Thai striker
Kunnee inside the 18-yard territory seemed to be a fair one to many, but referee Devendra
Bista thought it otherwise. Tamang was penalised for bringing down the rival player,
subsequently giving away a spotkick.
And Thailand skipper Somsak
successfully burried his right footed shot straight into the roof of the net for a 1-0
lead at half-time.
Nepal Blue tried desperately
for an equaliser, especially Raj Kumar Shrestha and Sukra Tamang making some breathtaking
runs down the opposite end. But all of them had unproductive ends due to feeble approach
up front.
On the other hand, Thailand,
improvising on their first half mistakes looked more thrustful in their attacks. And a
well co-ordinated move, twenty-six minutes into the second half saw them seal the match to
finish as the leader of Group B.
Songserm, who was brought on
for Phanomkron, found teammate Kunnee inside the six-yard box with a nice pass from the
right. And the latter, who was well positioned close to the rival goal, edged out a couple
of defenders and gave it a perfect finish with a low shot to buy a 2-0 victory.
Today’s semifinal
Nepal Blue vs Soongsil
Univ., S Korea
(2:30pm)
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