AFC President Cup 2013: Final Six Teams have been confirmed

The 2013 AFC President's Cup is the 9th edition of the AFC President's Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "emerging countries" in Asia.

Philippine clubs' participation in the AFC President's Cup started from 2013 was approved by the AFC.Tajikistan clubs' participation was upgraded from the AFC President's Cup to the AFC Cup starting from 2013 by the AFC. After the Completion of the Qualification round six teams have been selected for the Final round. The selected Teams are;

From Group A Three Star Club Nepal and Erchim FC Qualified where as defending Champion Taiwan Power Company is Out of the Qualifier.

Similarly From Group B Kyrgyzstan League Champion Dordoi Dynamo and Pakistan League Champion KRL football Club Qualified as winner and Runner up. From group C Balkan Football Club from Turkeministan and Palestine League Champion Alquds Hilal Club qualified as winner and Runner up.

The six teams will be drawn into two groups of three Each group is played on a single round-robin basis, with the same ranking rules as the group stage. The winners of each group advance to the final. The final is played as a single match, with extra time and penalty shoot-out used to decide the winner if necessary.

The Venue for the final round is yet to be confirmed . The final will be played from September 23 to September 29.

AFC Challenge Cup 2014: India's AFC Challenge Cup hopes crashed with Philippines win

The Blue Tigers were hoping to be one of the two best second-placed teams but a number of factors have resulted in the Indians having to sit out the tournament in Maldives.
   In a blow that could prove detrimental for Indian football's progress, the teams are ineligible to qualify for the AFC Challenge Cup to be held at Maldives in 2014. Wim Koevermans' sides finished second in their group behind Myanmar and were hoping to book their tickets for the 2014 tournament by means of the provision that the two best second-placed teams amongst all the groups would be granted safe passageway.

India finished with six points from three games with a goal difference of +4 in their qualifiers in early March. Bangladesh was ahead of the Indians amongst the two best second-placed teams with six points and a goal difference of +5. But this drastically changed after the Group E qualifiers where Turkmenistan has six points and a goal difference of +10.

This was partially due to the fact that Brunei withdrew from the qualifiers and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) awarded every other team in the group a default 3-0 victory in games involving Brunei. This along with the 8-0 dismantling of Cambodia by Philippines has ensured that Turkmenistan and Bangladesh would be the two teams that would qualify for the event in 2014. The manner of India's elimination may seem harsh, but it cannot be denied that such a situation would not have arrived had the Blue Tigers got a win or draw against Myanmar.  So for the Final the seven teams that qualify for AFC Challenge Cup 2013 are Maldives, Afghanistan,Kyrgyzstan  , Palestine, Philippines, Bangladesh and Turkmenistan 
For now, all that is left for the Indians to do is dust themselves off and attempt to work towards a better future for the game in the country. 

AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers: Live Stream of Nepal Vs Palestine

Dear readers Nepal is facing the strongest team of the Group Palestine in its last Match on 6^th of March 2013. Nepal is in third position after losing against Bangladesh on head to head while Palestine is in top of the table with two wins. Nepal has chance to qualify on head to head if Nepal will win the match by huge margin and Bangladesh losing the match that seems almost impossible. However Nepal can play for win to get some respect in point table. As always your favorite sports portal from the Nepal is bringing the live update and live stream of the Match for its Readers and Viewer. Stay with us till the match start. As ANFA have reschedule the timing of the match to 6:15 NST due to strike organized by Political Parties of Nepal. Nepal won’t get more supporter in the Ground as in previous matches.

Nepal Vs Palestine

Match Details:

AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier Group D

Nepal Vs Palestine

Date: 6^th March 2013

Time: 6:15 NST

Venue: Dashrath Stadium, Kathamndu

AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier: Live update of Nepal Vs Palestine

Dear readers Nepal is facing the strongest team of the Group Palestine in its last Match on 6^th of March 2013. Nepal is in third position after losing against Bangladesh on head to head while Palestine is in top of the table with two wins. Nepal has chance to qualify on head to head if Nepal will win the match by huge margin and Bangladesh losing the match that seems almost impossible. However Nepal can play for win to get some respect in point table. As always your favorite sports portal from the Nepal is bringing the live update and live stream of the Match for its Readers and Viewer. Stay with us till the match start. As ANFA have reschedule the timing of the match to 6:15 NST due to strike organized by Political Parties of Nepal. Nepal won’t get more supporter in the Ground as in previous matches.

Nepal Vs Palestine

Match Details:

AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier Group D

Nepal Vs Palestine

Date: 6^th March 2013

Time: 6:15 NST

Venue: Dashrath Stadium, Kathamndu

AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers: Northern Mariana Island was outclassed by Palestine

The 2012 AFC Challenge Cup semi-finalists Palestine made a big stride towards the qualification in the finals of the AFC Challenge Cup 2014 after thrashing debutants Northern Mariana Islands 9-0 on Monday.

 In the match played at the Dashrath Stadium, Palestine scored four goals in the first half and added five more in the second half past the debutants who conceded six goals against Nepal on Saturday totalling 15 goals in the competition.

KH Salem scored a hat trick while Alla Atiya and Abdulhamid Abuhabib notched a brace each for Palestine. Also on the score-sheet were Saturday’s goalscorer Haytham Theeb and Iyad Gharqoud.

Palestine, will take on hosts Nepal on Wednesday and a draw alone would be enough for them to seal a place in the tournament proper. Northern Mariana Island will wrap up their first international adventure against a spirited Bangladesh who regrouped to beat Nepal 2-0 to stay in contention. 

AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers Group D: Live update of Palestine Vs Northern Mariana Island

Dear readers as the Qualification for the Final round of the AFC Challenge Cu 2014 is on the way, one of the strong contender from Group D Palestine will be Facing the minnow of the Group Northern Mariana Island in their Second Match. Palestine had already gained three point and is in second position behind Nepal in Group lacking By the Goal difference while NMI are in last place behind Bangladesh . Palestine will play for a win while Northern Mariana Island will play for the Draw or will try to concede fewer goals. Stay with us for the Live Stream and Live Update of the Match between Nepal and Northern Mariana Island.

                                                                      

                                           

Northern Mariana Island–Palestine

                                                                   Half Time

 - - -

                                                                 0               -           9
Second Half:

FULL Time Palestine hammers NMI 9-0... Thanks for being with us. They Are One Foot Closer To Final Round...Thanx for staying with us Keep  refreshing the pa

90+1'  GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Palestine makes it 9-0. Fine shot from ALAA ATIYA.....ge
83' GOALLLLLLLLLLL Palestine makes it 8-0. Scrappy GOAL. IYAD GHARQUD Scores...
81' GOALLLLLLLLL Palestine makes it 7-0.. KH SALEM scores with his perfect shot....

76' GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Palaestine makes 6-0. KH SALEM Scores through header....
67' GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL HAYTHAM THEEB Scores For Palestine. Palestine are 5-0 up against NMI..

65' Palestine are unable to score in the second half as NMI are playing too defensive game. Palestine 4 NMI 0.46' Peep here we go stay with us for live update
HALF TIME Palestine are 4-0 up against NMI. Stick with us. We will catch you after 15 minutes. Palestine 4 NMI 0..
45' One minutes added extra time
43' 2 minutes Left for Lemon break can we get to see the goal before the Lemon break . NMI are now playing some good football
40' Northern Mariana Island already conceded four goals and now getting some confidence after stopping the Penalty
38' Salem crosses the ball, Alla finds the header but what a save by goalie Noetzel. Good goalkeeping from NMI goal35'  Some good news for NMI fans PENALTYYYYYYYYYYYYY to Palestine.. What a save by former Aston Villa Goalie.....
30' Palestine are Completely dominating Northern Mariana Island . I wish i could provide Live streaming but it looks like its not working. Stay with us and keep refreshing the page
27' GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL What a free kick! ABDHULHAMID ABHUHABIB Scores an easy spot kick. Palestine are 4-0 up....
23' GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Palestine scores another GOAL Alaa ATIYA scores an easy goal after utilizing a rebounded ball off goalie Noetzel.
GOAL
21 ' PENALTYYYYYYYY  GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL  ABDHULHAMID ABHUHABIB Scores an easy spot kick. Palestine are 2-0 up.  GOAL
20' Northern Mariana Island have been able to keep the score 1-0 till 20 minutes can they score?
12' Long shot from Salem from 25 yard distance, but the ball goes little wide from the target. Palestinian are playing super from the word go. 
10 ' 10 mins gone, Palestine are 1-0 up against NMI. Keep Refreshing your page and what do you think Palestine can score more than six!!
7' GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL ADAHAM ABURAWESS Scores A GOAL. An Easy GOAL for Al fursan. Palestine 1 NMI 0...

3' Palestine are creating moves in NMI D Box and it looks easy for them 

1 '	Peep!! Here we go...

Match will begin in a while now Both team are ready for photo session. You can predict score and please don't Forget to refresh the page to get recent update.

NMI Football Team

National anthem of Northern Mariana echoes...now the national anthem of Palestine....

FIFA anthem echoes..Both teams are entering the field.

Palestine: Tawfiq, Haythaam, Alla, Husam, Mohammed, Abdhullah, Ahmed, Murad, Salem, Adham, Isaili NMI: Johann, Nicolas, William, Lucas, Daniel, Joe, Steven, Michale, Peter, Adachi, Jeon Dear readers here we are presenting you the Live update of Palestine Vs NMI and squad of both teams have been decided. Only Fifteen Minutes to Kick off the Match

Click here to get the Live Stream  of Palestine Vs Northern Mariana Island

Match Details:

AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers Group D

Palestine Vs Northern Mariana Island

Date: 4^th March 2013

Time: 2:05 NST

Venue: Dashrath Stadium, Kathmandu

AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers Group D: Palestine Fight for 1-0 victory over Bangladesh

Bangladesh is disappointed in their first match as they get defeated to Palestine. Deep scored the only goal in the match in 78th minute to define Palestine’s faith. This helps Palestine to collect three points despite they were without some of their key players. First half of the game remained goal less, although Bangladesh missed outstanding opportunity to take the lead. If the chance was utilized, the result would have been completely different. It was 50-50 game in the first half while no team could create goal scoring chances beside some nonthreatening attacks.

Palestine Celebrating after scoring 

   Palestine displayed themselves stronger in second half as they dominated the attack. Abusalah was outstanding in the match as he added some threating attack.The dead lock was finally broken when Deep scored on a jumbled situation to take the lead and the goal was the decisive one. Bangladesh’s Dutch coach Lodewijk De Kruif lamented his side's lapses in concentration while Palestine’s Jordananian coach Jamal Mahmoud was not satisfied with the overall performance of his team in the hard-fought win. “My players did not play well and at times luck did not favour us,” he told reporters after the match.

Palestine meets Northern Mariana Island on March 4 while Bangladesh plays host Nepal in their second match.

AFC Challenge qualifiers: Points Table of AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier Group D

AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier is second Tier competition of Asia Continent. Twenty Nations from Asia are Grouped in Five Group and  winner of each Group  will Automatically Qualify for the Final Round that is scheduled for Next Year in Maldives. Maldives have automatically Qualify as organizer while other two teams will be decided from the to two second team from the Groups. Nepal is placed with Northern Mariana Island , Bangladesh and Palestine in Group D. After the Second Day of the matches on  4th March the Points Table Appear like.

Group D

Teams	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
PALESTINE	3	2	0	0	10	0	10	7
BANGLADESH *	3	1	0	1	6	1	5	3
NEPAL *	3	1	0	1	6	2	4	4
NORTHERN MARIANA	3	0	0	2	0	15	-19	0

AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers Group D: What coaches have to say before Tournaments

Northern Mariana Island

Northern Mariana Island has been participating in this tournament for the first time, while the Malaysian coach clarified that his team has not expected big result in the tournament while the team is in Nepal to seek experience.

” We are very new team and we do not expect much in the tournament, rather we are here to gain experience.

“We have very amateur player so we can not expect much. We are in the learning phase.”, Khen told reporters.

When asked about expectation about playing against hosts Nepal in the first match, coach told that they will be expecting results. “Everyone plays for result in football, hope we will get one in the match”, Khen added.

Meanwhile Khen refused to decide whether which team was strongest on his view in the group

Palestine

Palestine coach Jamal Mohmoud is confident of leading group D to qualify as the group winners in AFC challenge cup, Maldives 2014. Palestine are without their main players who are out on their club duties outside Palestine but still the coach claims that winning the group is possible. Jamal told the reporters that they have to plan without some 6 or 7 players who were in Gaza due to some political condition which they did not want to talk about while they will be missing some players who were in Kuwait and other countries serving their club.

Jamal Mohumad

Bangladesh

Bangladesh coach Lodewijck  De Kruif is confident about his team though they lack proper training and Practice. Though we are missing some important players in Dhaka due to injury but trust me my boys cab play beautiful football. Some key players of Bangladesh are injured. Strength of the Bangladeshi Team is that players are willing and motivated and they want to fight for countries. When asked about opponents he said Nepal have home Advantage.

Lodewijck  De Kruif

Nepal:

 Nepal Coach Jack stefanowski claimed Nepal has progressed a lot after the Friendly against Pakistan. We worked hard in training  camp so we are not concerned about which team we are facing but more on how we perform against opponents. He also mention that he is happy with his players as they worked hard and players had adapted to his playing strategy.

AFC Challenge Cup Group D qualifiers update

AFC Challenge Cup Group D qualifiers is scheduled from March 2 in Kathmandu. Four countries are participating in the qualifiers, looking to secure berth in the final round which is fixed in Male, Maldives. 

Bangladesh

Bangladesh Football Federation confirmed that two Dutch coaches, De Kruif & Koster who were appointed recently will join the team on February 22 and lead Bengali Tigers to Nepal to take part in AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers. They will take the national football team to Nepal on February 25th” Salahuddin was quoted as saying by Bangladeshi media.

Northen Mariana Island
 Debutant Northern Mariana Island will come to Kathmandu a week earlier than AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers' date. 

 Nepal

Nepal Played two International Friendlies against another South Asian country Pakistan and lost both the matches by the same margin of 1-0. Nepal is playing under newly appointed coach Jack Stefani.

Palestine

The strongest contender of the Group Palestine already proved that they are not easy to beat after winning International friendlies against India by 4-2.

Indian Squad for Palestine Friendly Announced: Arata Izumi becomes first foreign national to be selected for Indian football team

Japanese Arata Izumi has become the first foreign national to be selected for the Indian football team.
The Pune FC midfielder, who had given up his Japanese citizenship and got his Indian passport in August, found a place in the 23-member India squad selected by Ducth coach Wim Koevermans for the international friendly against Palestine in Kochi slated for February 6. Arata was also registered as an Indian player in the Durand Cup last year.

Born to an Indian father and Japanese mother, Arata had an Indian birth certificate, but he became a Japanese citizen after his parents separated. 

Arata first came to India as East Bengal's foreign recruit and then moved to Mahindra United. Former Mahindra coach Derek Pereira took the Japanese along with him when he joined Pune FC. In the past he had played for Singapore club Albirex Nagata and then for Mitsubishi Migushima. Arata has taken up an Indian name of Neelkanth Khambholja and has also got married to an Indian girl, Shweta Manerikar.

Arata Izumi

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) in the past had made attempts to include Indian origin footballers like former Sunderland striker Michael Chopra in the national team but failed to do so. A government order in 2010 ruled that only Indian passport holders can represent the country.

Meanwhile, Koevermans, under whom India had won the Nehru Cup in September, maintained it is a very important match for India. 

"We need to assess ourselves. We need more such matches," he said. India captain Sunil Chhetri said, "Unless you play international friendlies you cannot gauge where you stand. We stay grateful to AIFF for arranging the match. The passion for the sport in the Kerala stays unparalleled and we expect a full house cheering for us against Palestine."

SQUAD:

GOALKEEPERS: Subrata Paul (Prayag United), Sandip Nandy (Churchill Brothers), Karanjit Singh (Salgaocar).

DEFENDERS: Nirmal Chettri (Mohun Bagan), Gouramangi Moirangthem (Prayag United), Shouvik Ghosh (Pailan Arrows), Syed Rahim Nabi (Mohun Bagan), Gurjinder Kumar (Pune FC), Raju Gaikwad (East Bengal), Denzil Franco (Churchill Brothers).

MIDFIELDERS: Lenny Rodrigues (Churchill Brothers), Lalkamal Bhowmick (Prayag United), Arata Izumi (Pune FC), Mehtab Hussain (East Bengal), Francis Fernandes (Salgaocar), Anthony Pereira (Dempo SC), Alwyn George (Pailan Arrows), Jewel Raja (Mohun Bagan), Clifford Miranda (Dempo SC), Vineet CK (Prayag United).

FORWARDS: Sunil Chhetri (Sporting Lisbon), Manandeep Singh (East Bengal), Sushil Kumar Singh (Shillong Lajong FC).

STANDBYS: Subhashish Roychowdhury (Dempo SC), Dhanachandra Singh (Prayag United), Sandesh Jhingan (USFC), Arnab Mondal (East Bengal), Gurwinder Singh (East Bengal), Rocus Lamare (Salgaocar SC), Lalrindika Ralte (East Bengal), Peter Carvalho (Dempo SC), Tomba Singh (Churchill Brothers), Asif K (Prayag United), Malswamtulunga (Prayag United), Joaquim Abranches (Dempo SC), Robin Singh (East Bengal), Jeje Lalpekhlua (Pune FC)

AFC U-22 Asia Cup 2013 Group D Qualifier: Jordan Under-22 team to play Tournament in Palestine

 Jordan under 22 national team is leaving for the Palestinian territories to participate in the Second International tournament(Alnakba), which will start on Monday at Faisal AlHusseini stadium in the suburbs of Ram under the patronage of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and with the participation of 10 teams distributed by lot into three groups,  Jordan came in Group C with Tunisia and Mauritania, group A included Palestine, Vietnam, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Group B included Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Kurdistan(Iraq)

The matches will be played on: Faisal Husseini International Stadium - Ram, Municipality of Nablus stadium, Majid Asa’d stadium Al-Bireh, Hussein bin Ali- Alkhalil, and Dura stadium.
Jordan Under-22 team will play its first match on Thursday, 17 against Mauritania, and meets Tunisia on Saturday, 19th.
   Jordan Football Association delegation is headed by His Excellency Mr. Mohammed Alian HH Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Football Association, and includes Ahmad Qteishat technical department director.

Palestine U-22 Team

   Captain Islam Thiabat – the team coach, said that participation in the tournament has many meanings first and foremost to reflect the depth of the historical relationship between Jordan and Palestine in all fields as well as the importance of participating with their brothers in Palestine on all of their national occasions, also it is considered to be the first phase of the team preparation process for the Under-22 Asian qualifiers which will be held in Nepal from 2nd june to 12th June /2012. Thiabat added that facing two African teams in the tournament will be a good test for the players and an important addition to the team, he also praised the players moral situation that have emerged during the training games the team played recently, pointing that the team will play an international friendly against Lebanon- after they return from Palestine- in Amman on June 27 and then travel to Nepal to participate in the Asian qualifiers.

The Squad consists of the coaching staff, which includes team Director Ali Shehab, Coach Diane Saleh, coach Faisal Ibrahim and goalkeeping coach Ahmed Abu Nasouh, Dr. Samir Sara,

Players : Ahmad Alsageer - Anas AlKhalayleh - Mustafa Abu Mosameh - Ibrahim Dledum - Ahmed Samir - Ahmed Mazen Alsageer - Abdullah Abu Zaiton - Mahmoud Za'tara - Abdalmattiy Khaldun – Rowad  Abu Khaizran - Zaid Jaber - Saddam Abdul Mohsen - Salah Abou-Sayed - Suhaib Wahaibi - Tariq Ziad - Amer Ali - Abdullah Al-Attar – Udai Alqarra- Udai Zahran - Mohamed Rateb - Musab al-laham - Mohammed Zureikat - Monzer Abu-Amara

 

AFC Challenge Cup 2012: Watch Live Stream of North Korea (DPR) VS Palestine

Watch live streaming of AFC Challenge cup at anantasports.blogspot.com  

MATCH DETAILS: 
First  Semi Final
NORTH KOREA VS PALESTINE
DATE: 16TH MARCH 2012 ,Friday
TIME: 14:30 NST 
VENUE: DASHRATH STADIUM,KATHMANDU 

In the First Semifinal of AFC Challenge cup 2012 North Korea the winner of Group B and Palestine Runner of of Group A will be Looking for the win in order secure the position in Final. North Korea is the Winner of Group A and has a 100% win record where as Palestine is the runner up of group B  and haven't lost any match.. And it is sure both team will fight hard to secure in Asia cup qith out playing qualification. Stay with anantasports.blogspot.com to get the Live streaming of the match .
 LINK I: anantasports ( No Registration is Required watch High Quality Match and will be updated later)
 LINK II: AFC LIVE TV

AFC Challenge Cup 2012: Watch Live Stream Maldives Vs Palestine

Watch live streaming of AFC Challenge cup
at anantasports.blogspot.com

MATCH DETAILS:
MATCH: PALESTINE VS MALDIVES
DATE: 12TH MARCH 2012 ,SATURDAY
TIME: 15:00 NST
9:15GMT
VENUE: hALcHOWK  STADIUM,KATHMANDU

In the 3rd match of group A Maldives  will take on Palestine to secure its position in semifinal with clear win. While draw will be sufficient for Palestine to reach semifinal . o
As previous match anantasports.blogspot.com is bringing live streaming and live update of AFC Challenge cup match between Palestine and Maldives so stick with us.
Link1:   anantasports.blogspot.com Anantasportswill be updated at the time of match and free no registration

Link2:    livetv ( Need registration)

AFC Challenge Cup 2012: Watch live streaming of PALESTINE 0 VS 0 TURKEMENISTAN

Watch Live streaming at anantasports.blogspot.com

MATCH DETAILS:
Group : A
MATCH: PALESTINE VS TURKEMENISTAN
DATE: 10TH MARCH 2012,SATURDAY
TIME: 9:15 GMT , 15:00 NST
VENUE: HALCHOWK STADIUM

Palestine defeated nepal 2-0 and Turkmenistan defeated Maldives 3-1 in their first match respectively.
Both the teams have 3 points each and will love to secure thier place in semis with another win. The battle between the winner will be watchable so don't miss to watch it.

live matches are available in television and even streamings are available in anantasports.blogspot.com and other links. Stay with me to watch live streaming of the match.

Link1:   anantasports.blogspot.comanantasports.blogspot.com (will be updated when the match will start) No registration req.

Link2:     AFC livetv( registration Required)

AFC Challenge Cup 2012: What Coach have to say after the first day matches

Nepalese coach Graham Roberts was upbeat about the performance but said unnecessary mistakes cost them dearly.
"We started badly but we recovered well after 20 mins. But my boys made lots of mistakes that cost us dear".
While commenting about the opposition that thwarted them today, he was quick to point out that although they scored two goals, Nepal could have very well avoided conceding them altogether.
"Palestine players look professional and they utilized their chances. We made mistakes. When you make mistakes, you will be punished. We gave away two sloppy goals".
Roberts also lamented that his team failed to put to bed the chances that they created
"We fought well against them. We had some goal scoring chances but all wasted."

Roberts was however looking forward to the match against Maldives. He accepted that they would be a tough opposition but was equally sure that Nepal would certainly come out winners from that match.
"Maldives match will be a tough one. It's a must win game since we have to win to stay in the fray. I am telling you we don't have any pressure against them. We will try to win every game, I think we will beat Maldives."

Al-Fursan's coach Jamal Mahmoud was delighted with his team's performance in their first match.
He praised the determination and commitment showed by his own players who withstood large periods of sustained pressure applied by the Gorkhalis.
"It was a tough match. My boys played well against Nepal. I am happy with them".
Mahmoud felt that Nepal acquited themselves well but they failed to make their chances count. He said, "Nepal is a good side. They had some goal scoring chance but they couldn't utilize. They tried to come back to the game in the first half but we managed to stop them".
He also stressed that the next match against Turkmenistan who won against Maldives, was of paramount importance. He stated, "We are here to win the trophy. The next match against Turkmenistan is vital and we will do our best to continue winning spree".
The Palestine coach also had some good words about the environment in the stadium that the supporters built up in the Dasrath Stadium
"I would like to thank Nepalese supporters for making this match beautiful, the supporters were good," he concluded.

Maldives Hungarian coach Istvan Urbanyi rued the silly errors in defense by his side. "We started the game well and deservedly took the lead but we paid the price for an individual defensive mistake and conceded the equaliser," said Urbanyi, who explained that poor "The Maldives have an issue defending," stated the 44-year-old.

"Two of the Maldives representatives in the AFC Cup conceded nine goals so defending is clearly something we all have to work on."Turkmenistan coach Yazguly Hojageldiyev acknowledged that his team did not settle into the tie quickly enough.

"We did not start the match well and for the first 20 minutes we were all over the pitch without any co-ordination," Hojageldiyev admitted.The Green Men’s coach then revealed how a change in tactics led to the second half comeback by his men.

"Maybe we were a bit lethargic after the long journey from Ashgabat but at half-time I spoke to the players and changed our strategy and we approached the second-half completely differently."

 Defending is very much a part and parcel of Maldivian football.

AFC Chalelnge Cup 2012: Nepal 0-2 Palestine

Hosts Nepal had a disastrous start to their AFC Challenge Cup campaign when they were beaten 2-0 by Palestine at the Dashrath Stadium on Thursday.

The visitors broke the deadlock in the fourth minute when Murad Said shot from edge of the box but Nepal custodian Kiran Chemjong fumbled and Mohammed Mohammed raced to retrieve it from line before cutting back for Fahed Attal for a simple tap in from close range.

The hosts could have equalised in the 26th minute when forward Anil Gurung found Jumanu Rai just outside the area but his shot struck the crossbar before Palestine goalkeeper Ramzi Saleh had to be alert to intercept a threatening 30-yard cross from Nepal defender Rohit Chand four minutes later.

Saleh was again on hand to easily collect Gurung's weak header as Nepal threatened again in the 37thminute before Jumanu was unable to apply the finishing touch while under pressure from the Palestinian keeper as Biraj Maharjan delivered a dangerous cross from the right flank in the dying moments of the first half.

Seven minutes after the restart Attal was set free inside the opposition are but the AFC Challenge Cup's leading scorer was unable to take his personal tally into double figures due to a timely clearance from Nepal captain Sagar Thapa.

The Nepalese defence was caught napping when Alla Atya sent Mohammed free inside the area with only Chemjong to beat, which he did with an ease rolling the ball beyond the reach of the keeper to make it 2-0 to Palestine in the 65th minute.

Nepal had their best chance in the 78th minute when Jumanu received a pass from Santosh Sahukhala and had only Palestine goalkeeper to beat but his shot went straight to Saleh before Sahukhala missed another opportunity with six minutes left to play when he headed Bhola Silwal's free-kick agonisingly wide