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Kathmandu Friday September 08, 2000 Bhadra 23, 2057.
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Nepal suffer third straight loss
By a Post Reporter
DANONG, Vietnam, Sept 7 - Nepal suffered the
third consecutive loss of their preliminary outing in the AFC Asian Youth Under-16
Football Championship, going down 0-3 to the firm favourites Japan here Thursday.
That means the end of the competition for
Nepal with only academic interest in the match against Myanmar on Saturday.
Nepal, who opted for a totally defensive
strategy limited the much stronger Japan at 0-2 at the end of the first session. Too much
focus on defense simply restricted their attack.
Japanese building pressure with their swift
moves took the lead in the 11th minute of the match. Skipper Kikuji Naoya, taking charge
of the ball at the edge of the 18-yard box moved a little further and fired a blinder to
put his side 1-0 up.
It was another long ranger from Abe Utaro in
the 26th minute, which hit the back of the net defying the heavily crowded Nepalese
defence to double the margin at 2-0.
Even the over crowded defense failed to stop
the Japanese advance as they moved 3-0 ahead in the 66th minute. Kikuchi Naoya, after
taking a free-kick from outside the penalty area into his strike, gently pushed the ball
towards Tomioka Ayisetta who unleashed a low shot for the deciding goal of the match.
Japanese team coach, Kaju Tashima, expressed satisfaction
over his team’s defence but he termed the overall performance as a poor one, though.
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