Nepal enters second round

Nepal qualified for the second round of the Asian Qualifier for the 2020 Olympics despite playing 1-1 draw against Bangladesh and finishing third in Group ‘C’ at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon on Tuesday. Nepal enters second round

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Prajwal Oli

Published at : November 14, 2018

Updated at : November 14, 2018 09:01

Kathmandu

Nepal earned a ticket to the second round thanks to the change of qualification quota by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Tuesday. The change meant top two teams from each of the four groups and two best runners-up now advance to the second round of the Qualifier. Until Monday, the official AFC website has been saying that only group winners and two bes third-place finishers would qualify for the second round.

After three draws in as many games, Nepal finished in third with three points behind Myanmar and India, who are locked at four points apiece and play their game later in the evening. The outcome of the match will determine the group winner and runner-up. Nepal are now confirmed to grab one of the two berths available for the best third-place finishers.

It was the third time in a row that Nepal’s fragile defence was exposed in the Qualifier as it conceded equaliser for the third time after taking the lead. Both Myanmar and India had registered comeback draws over Nepal in the first two games. It was also the first occasion that Nepal was forced to settle for draw against Bangladesh in their five encounters. Nepal had won all four previous games against Bangladesh, scoring a total of eight goals without conceding any. Nepal opened the scoring through skipper Niru Thapa early in the 17th minute and appeared headed for victory before Bangladesh forced a last-gasp equaliser in the stoppage time. Mossammat Akhi Khatun spoiled Nepal’s party with the Bangladeshi goal.

The second round of the Qualifier is scheduled for April next year. The 10 teams from Qualifier 1 will join Uzbekistan and Vietnam in the Qualifier 2. The 12 teams will then be divided into three groups of four, with the winner of each group progressing to Round 3, which is set

tentatively for January or February 2020.

The Round 3 of the Asian Qualifiers will have two groups of four teams that include Australia, China PR, DPR Korea, Korea Republic and Thailand. Top two teams from each group qualify for the two-leg playoff in March 2020, and the two winners will join Japan in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Prajwal Oli
Prajwal Oli is a sports coordinator for The Kathmandu Post, focusing on football, cricket and the National Sports Council. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2017, he spent more than eight years at Republica, specialising in football and sports politics, and at The Rising Nepal.