Male: The Maldives ended their Preliminary Round 2 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup Preliminary Round 2 joint-qualifying campaign on a high note on Tuesday after scoring three late goals to overturn a 2-1 deficit and defeat Bhutan 4-2 in their final Group A fixture.
Star striker Chencho Gyeltshen, who plays his club football in Thailand with lower league side Satun United, gave Bhutan the perfect start in their quest to pick up their first points of the the second round of qualifiers when the Himalayan Kingdom’s top international goalscorer took his tally to seven with just seven minutes at the National Stadium in Male played.
However, Asadhulla Abdulla ensureed that the two sides would go into the interval on an even keel when the Maziya Sports & Recreation forward equalised for the Maldives with eight minute of the first half to play.
Bhutan reclaimed their advantage three minutes after the start when Tshering Dorji successfully converted from the spot but with the visitors just nine minutes away from victory, a penalty skipper Ali Ashfaq drew the Maldives level before an 87th minute goal from substitute Hassan Naiz - who had come on for goalscorer Abdulla seven minutes earlier - and another from Ashfaq four minutes into stoppage time saw the Indian Ocean Islanders defeat Bhutan for a second time in the qualifiers to finish their campaign in fourth place with six points.
Eight group winners will advance to the third round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, as well as straight to the 2019 Asian Cup in United Arab Emirates, along with the four best runners-up.
The other four runners-up will progress to the third round of qualifying for the Asian Cup, along with all the third-placed teams and the four best fourth-placed teams.
The remaining sides, which will include Bangladesh, will have to negotiate past two rounds of playoffs for one of the final eight spots in the Asian Cup third qualifying round.
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