SAFF Championship: Maldives, Lebanon register wins

Maldives registered a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Bhutan in their SAFF Championship 2023 encounter here at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday, June 22.

The island nation took an early lead in the game when Hamza Mohamed converted from the spot in the 6th minute. The Maldives No. 10 was brought down inside the box by Tenzin Dorji and he made no mistake in slotting the ball home for 1-0, as per a press release from the All India Football Federation (AIFF) release.

Maldives kept pushing for another goal, showing some good passages of play. In the 17th minute, Ibrahim Wahid Hassan went for glory from the left flank, but his fierce shot went agonisingly wide off the post.

Bhutan charged forward with vigour to pull back on level terms, but could not find the end product. In the 23rd minute, the team missed a golden opportunity to equalise when Karma Shedrup Tshering's powerful strike from outside the box was spilled by goalkeeper Hussain Shareef. However, Yeshi Dorji, who was the first to react, could not beat the Maldives custodian from close range.

Bhutan almost found the much-needed equaliser in the 35th minute. Tshelthrim Namgyel found the back of the net following a blocked shot, but the referee blew his whistle for an offside. Eventually, the two sides headed into the break with the scoreline reading 1-0.

Bhutan kept pushing for an equaliser following the break and produced waves of attacks on the Maldives goal. But in the end, nothing helped as the team rued their missed chances.

In the dying minutes of the game, Bhutan once again came close to scoring. This time, it was Nima Wangdi whose deflected shot came off the woodwork.

Ultimately, at the stroke of the 90th minute, substitute Naiz Hassan made it 2-0 for Maldives. The forward marched forward on the counter and managed to beat the goalkeeper from close range to put the game to bed.

Before the full-time whistle, Maldives were reduced to 10 men when the referee gave marching orders to Hassan Raif Ahmed. The substitute received a second yellow for a deliberate foul.

Nevertheless, the team held on to the scoreline to grab a crucial win in their first game of the tournament. Next up in Group B, Maldives face Bangladesh, while Bhutan take on Lebanon on Sunday, June 25.

Earlier, Lebanon earned full points in their opening Group B match of the SAFF Championship 2023 when they defeated former champions Bangladesh 2-0 at the Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday.

Two late goals from Hassan Maatouk and Khalil Bader were enough to break Bangladesh's resistance.

Lebanon, ranked 99 in the FIFA rankings, are one of the two teams who are playing in the SAFF Championship for the first time as they have been invited from outside of the SAFF region.

Lebanon clearly enjoyed more possession of the ball in the first half. But Bangladesh fought toe to toe in the first half to keep Lebanon at bay.

Bangladesh's Spanish Head Coach, Javier Fernandez Cabrera Martin Penato opted to play with five midfielders keeping lone striker Mohammed Suman Reza upfront. His strategy was clear - to keep the defence tight and wait for the opportunities to catch the rivals on the wrong foot on counter-attacks. Bangladesh skipper Jamal Bhuyan orchestrated much of Bangladesh's attack from the middle of the park.

Bangladesh's best chance of the match came in the 59th minute. A defence-splitting pass from the midfield put Mohammed Foysal Ahmed Fahim face to face with Lebanon's keeper Ali Sabeh.

He had only Ali Sabeh to beat but he shot straight to the keeper.

A costly defensive error from Bangladesh's central defender Tariq Raihan Kazi helped Lebanon score the first goal in the 79th minute. As Tariq Kazi attempted to play out from the back, the ball fell for Karim Darwich who after a solo run squared off for Hassan Maatouk. Hassan kept his calm to score past Anisur Rahman.

Khalil Bader struck the second goal well into the added time when he tapped into an empty net following a pass from Zein Al Abidine Farran from the right.

Lebanon will face Bhutan and Bangladesh will play against the Maldives on June 25.