By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Nepal suffered a setback in their first round match of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup qualifiers on Sunday. Nepal lost their opening match 5-1 against Uzbekistan.
During the match held at Gazprom Sports Complex in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Ropiv Ikhtiyor scored a brace for Uzbekistan while Khusiddin Nishonov, Usmonov Akbar and Elmurodov Abbos scored a goal each while Mani Kumar Lama was on target for Nepal.
Uzbekistan took an early lead with a goal from Nishonov in the 2nd minute while Akbar added another in the 11th minute and Ikhtiyor added another in the 16th minute as Nepal headed to the break with a score of 3-0 down.
Lama hit back a goal in the 28th minute to make the scoreline 3-1 but Ikhtiyor added another goal in the 32nd minute before Abbos completed the rout with the fifth goal of Uzbekistan in the 40th minute.
Nepal will play their second match against Tajikistan in Group B of the Central and South Zone under the qualifiers on Monday followed by the last match against Afghanistan on Tuesday.
Group A includes hosts Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and the Maldives. The top two teams from each group will get a chance to feature in the AFC Fustal Asian Cup to be held in Kuwait later in 2022.
