North Korea and Nepal Qualify for the Final round of AFC Challenge Cup 2012 from Group D

North Korea and Nepal enters the final round of AFC Challenge cup 2012 as winner and runner up of Group –D. This is third time Nepal had qualified for the final round of AFC Challenge cup.

  Nepal was able to secure its position in final round only because North Korea defeated Afghanistan by 2-1 in the match played on the final day while Nepal had only managed gets a point from the match against Sri Lanka as Nepal and its South Asian counter part manage to play goal less draw.  North Korea (9) topped the group with all three win while Nepal (4) won a match draw and lost one. Other two teams in the group Afghanistan and Sri Lanka only manage to get 3 and 1 points respectively.

Nepali team before the match started against Sri Lanka 

 Nepali team was not organized against Sri Lanka and was not able to play the same game they play against Afghanistan and North Korea. Though Nepal created some move in first and second half but was unable to utilize the chances due to lack of coordination between strikers. English Coach of Nepal is still have with the team performance and said, “To be in the second round is also an achievement”. He further added, “We had played to win but the players were tired and we will work on scoring ability of the team in next matches”. He wants to continue his tenure with Nepal’s national team and under 16 and 19 teams. He also apologies   for his bad behavior against journalist two days back.

Nepal Celebrating the joy with Coach and Spectators

  The Nepali team walked on the synthetic track around the ground to share team’s happiness with Spectators present in the stadium after they knew that they were qualified for the next round. The team also celebrates their happiness with Coach and Assistant coach. Nepal will now join the winners and runners up of other group

English Coach Robers sharing his happiness

  In the Match between North Korea and Afghanistan Earlier, Choe Kum Chol gave DPR Korea the lead at the stroke of half time and Ri Chol Myong made it 2-0 eight minutes after the hour mark to make it three in a row for Yun Jong Su’s side.

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	+/-	Pts
DPR KOREA	3	3	0	0	7	0	7	9
NEPAL	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	4
AFGHANISTAN	3	1	0	2	1	3	-2	3
SRI LANKA	3	0	1	2	0	5	-5	1

#	Date	Match	Venue	Result
1	07 April 2011 15:30	DPR KOREA-SRI LANKA	Halchowk Stadium	4:0
2	07 April 2011 15:30	AFGHANISTAN-NEPAL	Dashrath Stadium	0:1
3	09 April 2011 15:30	NEPAL-DPR KOREA	Dashrath Stadium	0:1
4	09 April 2011 15:30	SRI LANKA-AFGHANISTAN	Halchowk Stadium	0:1
5	11 April 2011 15:30	NEPAL-SRI LANKA	Dashrath Stadium	0:0
6	11 April 2011 15:30	DPR KOREA-AFGHANISTAN	Halchowk Stadium	2:0

 From Group -A: Palestine (winner) and Philippines (runner up)

 From Group- B: India (winner) and Turkmenistan (runner up)

 From Group -C: Maldives (winner) and Tajikistan (runner up)

 From Group- D North Korea (winner) and Nepal (runner up)