By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu (HamroKhelkud) – Record champions Jordan have edged Nepal on penalties to win the WAFF Women’s Championship 2024. Nepal, one of the two invited teams in the tournament, succumbed 5-3 against Jordan who have now won the tournament in six occasions out of eight.
Gita Rana’s stoppage-time penalty leveled the match at 2-2 and sent the match to penalties. Nepal’s Amrita Jaishi’s stop-kick was saved by the Jordanian number one Sherin Al Shalabe down to his right. The rest of the penalties, nine of them, found their way into the back of the net.
Earlier in the regulation time, Sabita Rana Magar, starting her first match of the tournament, gave Nepal the lead in the 29th minute with a strike from the edge of the box that looped over Al Shalabe.
Jordan equalized in the 74th minute while Nepal were playing with ten players with Preeti stretchered off due to an injury. The goal came from Lana Feras by beating the offside trap off a long ball from the middle of the pitch. Nepal had a big sigh of relief in the next minute when Jordan skipper Maysa Jabarah found the back of the net in a rebound off the crossbar from a Sarah Abu Sabah but the Jordanian skipper was flagged offside.
Jordan turned the game around to take the lead in the 89th minute. Jabarah’s pass was finished off by Abu Sabah from inside the box after dribbling past Dipa Shahi and Gita Rana inside the box. However, Nepal had one last push left in them.
Skipper Jabarah’s handball in the second minute of added time gave Nepal an opportunity to force a tiebreaker. And that, Gita did with her calmly placed penalty. However, Nepal failed to win the title in their maiden appearance in the shootout.
