Afghanistan bagged their first win against Maldives as they booked a semi-final clash with Sri Lanka while Maldives will play India.
Afghanistan stormed to a 4-1 win over Maldives in the final Group B game of the 2015 SAFF Championship at the Trivandrum International Stadium in Kerala on Monday. Faysal Shayesteh (20'), Omid Popalzay (34', 54') and Ahmad Hatifi (51') did the damage while Ali Fasir (32') got on the score sheet for Maldives.
M. Hashemi, A. Alikhil, N. Amiri, M. Saighani, K. Taher, K. Amani and M. Hadid all dropped out of the starting XI for Afghanistan. R. Iqbalzadeh, Z. Amiri, A, Hatifi, F. Hakimi, O. Hamauoni, A. Dastgir and M. Zazai were drafted in instead.
Maldives made five changes to their line up as N. Hassan, A. Samooh, I. Easa, M. Arif and A. Nashid replaced Amdaan Ali, H. Mohammed, A. Imaaz, Ashad Ali and A. Ashfaq.
Following a few half-chances for either side, Afghanistan made the breakthrough in the 20th minute. Faysal Shayesteh opened the scoring after a defensive blunder by Maldives. The Afghan skipper pounced on the loose ball and placed his effort into the corner.
Ali Fasir then equalised in the 32nd minute with a lovely piece of individual play. The winger breezed past his marker before rounding the keeper and finishing into an empty net.
Parity did not last long though as Afghanistan struck back two minutes later. Omid Popalzay beat the keeper with a direct free-kick to put his side 2-1 ahead.
Hakimi had a great chance from a header in the 41st minute but could not find the target. Easa Ismail's ball saw Asadullah head it towards Nashid but the winger lost his bearings and missed a good chance to go further ahead just before half-time.
The Afghan Lions picked up from where they left off in the second period as Hatifie's sensational strike made it 3-1 in the 51st minute. A corner kick was cleared only as far as the midfielder whose right footed shot was rifled into the net.
Just two minutes later, Maldives' problems compounded as Popalzay doubled his tally. A long ball was headed towards him and he made no mistake in front of goal.
With only the keeper to beat in the 70th minute, Zazai could only strike the ball straight into the custodian's grateful arms. He had another effort go wide in the final minute of regulation time as well when he received the ball just inside the box.
The game finished 4-1 in favour of the Lions from Khorasan who registered their first ever victory against Maldives.
Both teams moved into the semi-finals with Afghanistan to play Sri Lanka and Maldives to take on the Indians.
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