Maldives on Wednesday lost a highly challenging match during the 6th edition of the ongoing SAFF U20 Championship in Nepal after battling against Bhutan who competed with one less player.
Maldives on Wednesday lost a highly challenging match during the 6th edition of the ongoing SAFF U20 Championship in Nepal after battling against Bhutan who competed with one less player.
Following this defeat in Group B, Maldives now faces danger of crashing out of the tournament altogether.
Maldives is next matched with India. Battling with just nine players on the pitch, India had triumphed their match against Bhutan 1-0.
The winning goal for Bhutan in their clash with Maldives yesterday was scored during the last minutes of the game.
The Bhutanese team closed the second half with a lead over Maldives as well. In an attempt to block a chance created by Maldives during this match, the Bhutanese goalkeeper committed a foul outside his area, warranting a red card from the referee.
He was replaced by the footballer who defended Bhutan's goalpost during their match with India. The free throw sent in by Ish'af Firaq after the foul however, landed at the bottom corner of the goalpost.
The footballers were also posed increasing challenges during the second half which observed a sudden bout of heavy rain that flooded the Kathmandu grounds.
Although Bhutan played with one less player during the most part of the second half, Maldives was unable to exploit the difference to their advantage.
Bhutan scored their second goal amid the 90th minute of the match with both goals scored during open plays.
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