Football

Nepal’s disappointment continued in the AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2023 Qaulifiers as they suffered a 6-0 loss to Bahrain in a Group B match in Adan, Bahrain  on Wednesday night.

Both sides entered the field at the Shaikh Ali Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Stadium, needing a win to stay in the hunt. While Bahrain have brought their campaign back on the rails, the defeat has left Nepal in tatters, without a point at the bottom of the pile.

Having lost 2-0 to Bhutan and 3-1 to Qatar, Nepal are out of the competition. They meet Bangladesh in the final group game on Sunday.

Bahrain, who were held 0-0 by Bangladesh in their opener, took control of the match from the start.

In the 19th minute, Abdulla Sultan Alkhalasi scored from the spot to put the hosts 1-0 alead.
Sayed Ali Naser doubled the lead for the West Asian side three minutes before the break, leaving Nepal with a mountain to climb in the second half.

Bahrain maintained their domination when the teams returned for the second game and Abdulrahman Gadban made it 3-0 in the 67th minute.

The Nepali lads gave in with 10 minutes still on the clock which allowed Bahrain to improve on their goal difference. Abdulla Ali Alsubaiei completed a brace with goals on 84 and 88 minutes and Mubarak Mohamed Habib made it 6-0 a minute into the added time.

The 6-0 score line was the order of the day as Qatar beat Bhutan to take a huge step towards qualifying for the finals. They now lead Group B table with six points from two games.

Bhutan, who lost 2-1 to Bangladesh after opening with a 2-0 win over Nepal, needed a win to stay in sight of qualifying. But the South Asians found Qatar too hot to handle.

Qatar opened the scoring in the 26th minute and extended the led to 4-0 at the end of the first half. They added a couple more, netting in the 61st and 78th minutes to wrap up a big victory.