Kathmandu, Feb 28: Nepal has reached the final of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Women’s Championship beating Lebanon.
Nepal defeated Lebanon 2-1 in the semi-finals held at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last night. Nepal has participated in the WAFF Championship for the first time. Sabitra Bhandari and Preeti Rai scored a goal each for Nepal.
In the additional time in second half of the match, Preeti scored a goal to ensure Nepal’s victory. Earlier in the 38th minute of the match, Nepal’s defender Puja Rana scored a suicide goal to put Nepal under pressure. Pooja’s back pass to goalkeeper Anjila Tumbappo Subba while she was moving forward happened to be a goal.
In the 75th minute of the match, Nepal scored the equalizer. Taking advantage of the mistake made by the Lebanese defender, Savitra scored the equalizer and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. After that, Nepal’s Preeti added a goal in the extra time of the second half to ensure Nepal’s journey to the final.
With this win, Nepal will now take on Jordan for the title. Jordan defeated Palestine 5-0 in the first semi-final to reach the final. The final will be played tomorrow. Earlier, Nepal, which is in Group ‘B’, had reached the semi-finals by defeating Syria, Iraq and Palestine.
