The Afghan National Football Team narrowly beat Nepal 1-0 in the semi-final match of the 2013 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup on Sunday night. After its harrowing victory against the tournament hosts, Afghanistan will face-off against the winner of the second semi-final match between the Maldives and India in the championship game set for Wednesday night.
The match marked the second SAFF semi-finals in a row that Afghanistan defeated Nepal with a 1-0 scoreline after the same result came in the game played two years ago when the tournament was hosted in New Delhi, India.
Sunday night's only goal scorer was Sandjar Ahmadi (#11) who found the net early on in the '11 minute of play when Nepalese goaltender Kiran Kumar let a routine cross slip out of his hands and fall right in front of the Afghan attacker who tapped the ball in for an easy finish. The goal temporarily silenced the 25,000 person crowd gathered in Dashrath Rangshala Stadium that was overwhelming filled with homeside Nepalese supporters.
Afghanistan went on to largely dominate the rest of the first half, but still forced back some close attempts from Nepal's skipper Sagar Thapa and Biraj Mahajan before the whistle blew for the break.
Although two minutes of stoppage time were given for the first half, the teams ended up playing about four full minutes.
Nepal started the second half with a fire lit under them. The homeside did not look beaten, and saw two barely missed attempts taken by Bhola Nath Silwal and substitute Bimal Magar who was switched in for Raju Tamang by Nepal's American coach Jack Stefanowski.
Afghan defender Farzad Ataee (#14) was carted off the pitch and hospitalised after being kneed in the back by Gurung as they both went up for a fifty-fifty ball. Ataee is reportedly recovering from his injury and is expected to join the team's training session on Monday.
The onslaught of pressure launched by Nepal, as well as some questionable officiating, set stage for a zero-or-hero performance from Afghan goalkeeper Mansur Faqiryar (#1) in the second half. And he undoubtedly emerged as a hero.
In addition to a number of spectacular saves over the course of the match, Faqiryar managed to save a penalty kick struck by Rohit Chand after a dubious call that left him with a yellow card for knocking a Nepalese player down while coming out to grab a cross. Much to the chagrin of the Nepalese side, the astonishment of the crowd and the sheer joy of his teammates, Faqiryar managed to save a second penalty kick immediately after the first when the official ordered a re-take claiming Faqiryar had moved from his line prematurely. The Afghan goaltender then came up big again in the last moments of seven minutes of stoppage time when he made a diving save to keep out a header from Magar, the Nepalese substitute.
After the game, President Hamid Karzai offered praise for the team and congratulated Faqiryar in particular for his spectacular performance.
Faqiryar has only allowed a single goal in the SAFF tournament, which he conceded against Sri Lanka in Afghanistan's 3-1 victory during group play. He managed a clean sheet against both of Afghanistan's other Group B opponents in a 3-0 victory against Bhutan to begin the tournament and a 0-0 draw last Friday against fellow semi-finalists the Maldives.
Although the Maldives and Afghanistan both earned seven points in Group B, the Maldives ended up on top of the group table on account of goal aggregate. There large lead in goal aggregate was the result of their 10-0 win over Sri Lanka in their opening match of the tournament.
When the final whistle blew on Sunday night, social media exploded with celebratory messages from Afghans and other supporters around the world.
"It was a huge point of pride for Afghanistan to beat Nepal in the SAFF Cup," MP Zahir Qadir told TOLOnews.
Coach Yusef Kargar was not shy in calling out the questionable officiating during the game, but after the victory he was satisfied with the outcome and simply proud of the performance of his team. "Even though many obstacles were set for our team in the match against Nepal, we still won," Kargar said.
"Our players played well and I am sure that we will win in the final too," remarked Tahir Raoufi, the Technical Director of the Afghan Football Federation.
Afghanistan is now set to face-off against the winner of the Maldives versus India semi-final, which will be played on Monday night. The championship match on Wednesday will be broadcasted live on TOLO and Lemar TV.