Kathmandu – Philippines scored two goals after regulation time as Nepal went down 2-1 in the first match of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers.
In the Group F match played in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Nepal could not hold on to the first half lead. Nepal’s Bimala Chaudhary gave the lead in the tenth minute of the match. She headed in Sabita Rana’s long cross. But after being injured in the first half, she left the field in the 39th minute.
Entering the field for Nepal in the second half, defender Bimala BK made her debut from the senior team. She replaced injured Puja Rana in the 63rd minute.
Nepal conceded in the 90th minute of the game and in the second minute of injury time. The Philippines took advantage of the lack of coordination on the offside trap between the Nepali defense and equalized. Tahanai Enis scored the ball inside the penalty area. Camille Wilson scored the winning goal from near the 6-yard box as Nepal could not clear the ball inside the penalty area during the injury time.
With this victory, the Philippines has added 3 points in the first game. Nepal will now face Hong Kong in the next match on Tuesday. If Nepal wins the game, the possibility of selection for the Asian Cup will remain alive. The group winner will be directly selected for the Asian Cup.
Head Coach of Nepal Gary Phillips said losing control towards the end cost the team dear. ‘We played well until 85 minutes. We made some errors in the last five minutes and that cost us,’ he said,’ we deserved something better with this performance. I am happy with the performance from the girls and I hope they learn from this heading into next match.’
