Afganistan ruined Nepal's hope to win the SAFF Championship in his home soil by scoring a single goal to none.Nepali players gave their 110% to the game showing great mettle but with no effects to the strong Afgani side.A silly mistake from a goalie at the start of the game  and an unfortunate double-penalty miss by Nepal has halt the country's dream to win the championship.The strong Afgani side, consisting players who visit  European clubs for professional football outplayed Nepal in most aspects of the game.The housefull Dasarth Stadium was pin drop silent as Nepali players failed to score a single goal till the final whistle of the game.

Despite this loss,Nepal did showed a spark of hope for better Nepali football in the upcoming days.The enthusiam and support shown by the Nepali supporters to its team  and the figting back of the players till the end of the game has been admirable.Nepali players can also take this event to identify their shortcomings and work in it for the glory that lies ahead for the country and for themselves.A weeklong football celebration has come to an end for Nepali supporters with much promise in future.Thanks to Nepali team for uplifting the country for some good time--now,they can go to the field to practise and be fully ready for the next time.Cheers.

 Your thread should be "Nepali loser soccer team dissapoints Nepal" 

Quite a thrilling way to crash out. I can't speak for others but as an adult, this was the first time I'd managed to properly follow (watch live) the national team (SAFF '99 was ages ago!). Getting up in the wee hours (sometimes, even earlier) to watch Man United play is one thing but doing the same to watch Nepal play was kinda different expereince. After so many disappointing campaigns ever since we made it to that final, this tournament had way too many positives that clearly outshadowed the negatives. 

The way we played and outplayed our opponents was thoroughly impressive. The energy and speed with which our players played was quite captivating, too. It was kinda disappointing to see us concede such an awful goal and miss two penalties but not everything goes your way, does it? Even Baggio, Messi and Ronaldo have missed crucial penalties in their careers. 

Our defense, strikers and defensive midfielders performed exceptionally well but it seemed we seemed to lack an attacking midfielder of Fabregas, Sneijder, Ozil mold big time. We didn't succeed in playing through balls a whole lot throughout the tournament. Matter of fact, if I remember correctly, Bimal Gharti Magar's through ball was the only penetrating pass that stood out throughout the tournament.

Rohit Chand was a revelation! Deploying him as a midfielder seemed to be a stroke of genius. It was extremely disheartening to see him breaking down after his miss. We certainly seem to have an abundance of talent to improve the side from here on. A youngin like Bimal Gharti Magar managing to burst into the International Arena at such a tender age was quite delightful. 

Afghanistan did seem to have a few technically gifted players but they certainly seemed baffled by the way we were attacking them throughout the game. 

On a different note, Kiran Limbu getting into Afghanistan's box during a corner kick on the 90th minute was truly appalling, especially when you consider what was forthcoming - a lengthy extra time after a series of injuries and incidents in the second half! I don't hold any grudges for the goal he conceded but I'd have been outraged if we'd conceded a goal with 7-8 minutes still to play in the game! 

 I blame the keeper, how could he lose his grip? That ball was going nowhere and he being an oversmart ass messed it up. The penalty would have decided Nepal's fate. 

I still remember that add back in the days it used to broadcast alot in ntv
" Ma Ta Ganesh Thapa ley jastai dyaanngaa goal hanchhu".
we need someone who can really score a goal.

Afgani goalkeeper was amazing.

First of all, a goalkeeper is the last line of defense. A ball reaches goalie only when the rest of the field fails to stop it from advancing (except for some pass-plays). So to blame only a goalie is plain stupidity.

Second, it wasn't a sure shot ball. The ball came in a slight angle and the goalie wasn't in the best of position to catch it. His mistake was that if he wasn't sure to catch it, he should have punched it away knowing there was an Afgan striker; but I don't blame him for not holding it. The ball just slipped as the goalie's footing was angled. This wasn't the toughest shot, but it wasn't a gimme ball either.


I am very much impressed by Nepali strikers. Sure, the penalty could've been better but oh well.

@riddle, Kiran's move was expected, not appalling. Not sure why would you even consider that appalling? This has happened in many knockout games. This is not a league game and game differential doesn't matter. The worse that could've happened was we would've lost by 0-2 (since there wasn't enough time for more goals). What's the difference? But the best that could've happened was 1-1. I hope that wasn't the first time you saw a goalie going in for a corner kick in the last minutes, happens all the time specially in knock-out rounds.

 आशु जी  ( पुरानो साझा बासी )ले आफ्नो फेसबुक स्टाटसमा लेख्नु भाको एउटा उक्ति नेपालीमा अनुबाद गरी राख्न मन लाग्यो ...

Rahulvai ko pahilo ra antim para sarai ramro lagyo. But, I am not sure about the second one, specifically the last line of second para.

Yes, a goalie has to setup his mind before the kick. But a lot of factors go into this and every single goalie will have a different strategy. If they all followed the 9 out of 10 rule then the tie-breakers will be too predictable (game theory application perhaps?).

The chances of Afgani goalie diving in the same corner was as much as him diving in the other (or in the middle). From probabilistic standpoint, a study done by the Freakonomics co-authors Steven Levitt and Dubner, showed that both kickers and keepers prefer to go to their left but the difference is not too high. It sure doesn't say which direction the goalie goes once he has already gone one direction; but it does say kicking to the right had the lowest pay-off of any direction.

Now as for the strategy, a goalie going in the same direction in consecutive kicks is, at-best, a myth. Yes, the goalie has to pre-determine his side before the kick is made but his bias towards one side is very much dependent upon the strategy and goalie's personal decision.

Bottom line is, if a goal was scored, we wouldn't be talking about his decision. The Freakonomics article also talks about why kickers don't chose to go middle. While there is a big pay-off, the embarassment of being blocked in the middle is graver. This embarassment comes from the unreasonable expectation for kicker to hit at the corner; much like an unreasonable expectation for kicker not to shoot at the same direction twice in a row. I probably would've kicked the ball in a different direction, but I don't blame the kid.

 It was a thrilling match. Kudos to the players.

However, I for one, do not think the attack strategy of Nepal. I mean there was no strategy. It was like "Kick the ball as high and far as you can" and everyone run after it kinda attack. Clearly, afghani players are physically superior. Nepalis appeared faster so that should have made sense to play more with the ground ball. I think we have a lot of potential. But that's what we've been saying since 1997. A lot of potential. When will that potential be realized? 

 kiddo जी धन्यबाद . त्यो मेरो विश्लेषण हैन, म्याच भैरहंदा कमेन्टेटरले टिप्पणी गरेको अंश उदृत गरेको हु. फेरी पनि त्यो पेनाल्टीको क्षणलाई हेर्नुस, उक्त टिप्पणी सुन्न सक्नु हिने छ. 

Thanks for clearing it out, Rahulji.

Kiddo, a keeper normally makes such moves in dying minutes. He came out in 89th min, IIRC. I hope this is the first time you've seen a keeper make such move 8-10 mins prior to final whistle because I've never seen it in my entire life. The timeframe )8-10 mins) is quite significant in these stages of a cup competition. Teams like United have won the Champions league by scoring 2 goals in 2 mins of stoppages. Dortmund eliminated Malaga by doing the same last season. His decision is equivalent to a keeper getting into his opponent's box in 84th minute of WC final, in the event his team's trailing by a goal. Keepers normally make such moves in the last 2-3 mins. In any case, it didn't really matter but like I aforementioned, I'd have been outraged if we'd conceded a goal 8 mins due to his decision, 8 mins prior to final whistle being blown. 

Also, shit happens but the goal was 100 percent his fault. It was a massive cockup on his part. The cross had no significant pace or power. He should've easily grabbed it or just punched it. I'm willing to give him the benefit due to the ground conditions as the ball slipped through his hands. But that was his mistake. Simple as that. 

I outrightly reject the idea that the goal was keeper's fault. I have given my reason behind it and since you don't agree with it, let's agree to disagree.

Now, you said he came out in 89th minute. Did you mean 79th? Whatever it is, I don't think we have enough time and I fully support him going there:
1. First of all, you don't have enough time to score more than 1 or even two goals.
2. He is going there for corners only, not like he is completely abandoning the goal area.
3. Lett's get real, even if he abandoned the posts completely, there's no way Afgans could score more than 2-3 goals. who cares if the result is 1-0 or 3-0
4. Kiran (goalie) is the tallest player on the team and brings a significant upside to corner. He not only could be a strong scorer on high corner kick, but he will also draw some defense his way, giving the balance of man-to-man or even zone defense towards Nepali side.

99% of football viewers would blame the keeper for the error. It was a basic cross that he fumbled on and made the error, similar to a wicketkeeper missing an edge. So I don't know why you'd "outrightly reject the idea" that he was at fault. Also, never in my entire life have I witnessed a keeper making such moves 8 mins prior to final whistle being blown. But we'll leave it at that as we'll just have to agree to disagree. 

99%? Comeon, you can come up with a better argument than pulling a number from thin air.
There is a big difference between saying that he should've caught the ball and blaming the goal on a goalie. Even the "should've caught the ball" part is arguable, but blaming the goal on goalie is childish.

You said 8 minutes left in the game? Now, I am a little suspicious about your calculations in general. Kiran went there around 89 minutes, that's like hardly 2 minutes left in the game. A player doesn't know how much of extra time is going to be awarded until the 90th minute, so you cannot say you have 4-5 extra minutes left.

I feel like you are just not accepting the loss and trying to find an individual scapegoat. The fact is Afgani team was physically better, but Nepali team played with heart and could've won the game. The team lost as a team and not because of one player's mistake.

 कुरो किपर  लास्ट मिनेटमा अगाडी आउनु न आउनु को होइन . कुरो नेपाल ले गोल गर्न नसक्नु त्यो पनि दुइ दुइ पल्ट पेनाल्टी हान्दा एकै ठाउँमा एकै प्रकारको शट हान्नु गल्ति थियो वा आत्म बिश्वास को कमि थियो , त्यहि हो मूल कुरो . गोल खाए पछि फर्काए पो जित्ने आश पलाउछ. 

Kiddo, now you're going overboard and downright labeling my point as "childish". That would've been a regulation catch on any amateur league, let alone International football. For crying out loud, that would've been labeled unacceptable in the league that I play in. I've got a feeling that you're unintentionally hung up on the fact that people are blaming him for our loss and hence, carrying that argument over to this.I never stated that I'm blaming him for our loss. I'm merely suggesting that the goal was conceded because of his mistake whilst you're blatantly refusing it. His mistake was a la any wicketkeeper missing a genuine edge. That cross should've been dealt with like any other regulatory cross. We're not talking about a keeper failing to reach out to a swirving cross or being unable to keep out a swirving free kick. A cross came in with no Afghan player closeby him. He caught the ball but failed to grab it properly, fumbled, lost it and we condeded the goal. Whose fault was it then? It was unfortunate on his part. We should've and most probably would've scored a couple goals if not for Afghanistan's keeper who was fantastic throughout the game. 

re: stoppage time. Since about 10 mins were wasted in the second half, I'd have thought he definitely had an idea about how much time was going to be added (I hope you're aware of how stoppage time works). The Afghan player getting knocked out unconscious alone halted the game for 5 mins. That's the only reason why I didn't like him coming out with so much time still left. If he only thought 2-3 mins were going to be added, then fair enough. But you can't blame me for assuming he probably had an idea about how much time was going to get added because I certainly did. 

Riddle, you're right. I shouldn't have said childish; didn't mean to say you are. I take that back.

Again, let's agree to disagree as I just can't fathom how the miss can be termed a routine-play-screwup and how going to another post at 89 minute is considered too early. What if I showed you international games where goalie runs toward opposite posts around that time? Would that help?

Well, I just erased a lenghty reply because I don't think we're changing our opinion. You can't seem to able to "fathom how the miss can be termed a routine-play-screwup" while I'm shellshocked to come across someone who doesn't think it was his mistake. The ball had no curve, power, pace or swerve. It was a nothing ball, really. The ball was lobbed into the box and with no Afghan player challenging for the ball, it should've been a regulation catch. He didn't even need to punch it as it had no power. He fumbled and ended up with a gaffe. 

Lets just agree to disagree.