Ziarat's bravery took Nepal to the finals

Nepal has reached the final after defeating Bhutan in penalty shootout. Now in the final on Wednesday, Nepal will play the winner between India and Bangladesh. Nepali football is not only pilgrimage, but also happiness. Otherwise, a commentary was being prepared, that Bhutan is gradually overtaking Nepal in football. I was afraid, if the Nepali team lost to Bhutan?

But the win now will give Nepal confidence again when they face Bhutan in the coming days, they just need to play this dear rival, that we are the ones who will win. Regardless of the situation. This is the message conveyed by the tumultuous match at the Anfa Complex in Satdobato. Its special hero is Ziarat.

After a goalless draw, Bhutan took the lead in the 56th minute and Jetsun Dorjee scored a superb goal. His powerful shot from outside the Nepali penalty area took the direction of the post and Nepali goalkeeper Ziarat was partly to blame for that. The goal was scored because he did not anticipate the ball well.

Bhutanese players were overjoyed. The turning point of the game came in the 76th minute, when Kinzang Tenjin was sent off after receiving a second yellow card and the team was reduced to ten men.

In this case, Nepal intensified the attack, Ziarat was saying from the back, "Everyone should go forward, I am also in the defense." It paid off in the 78th minute. Neerajan Dhami headed Ram Thapa's long pass to equalize. There were no more goals the rest of the time and the game went straight to a tiebreaker. In that, all four shots from Nepal's side were converted into goals. Ram Thapa, Abhinas Sangtang, Seemant Thapa and Ziarat Nai were the players who scored goals.

Jetsun was the only one not to score for Bhutan. Jigme Dorjee and Jigne Namgyal's shots were brilliantly saved by Ziarat. Penalty Shootout When Nepal was leading 3-1, Ziarat came forward himself and scored the decisive goal. Along with this, there was a 'euphoria' in the Nepali team and supporters. Bhutanese players could not bear the situation, almost all fell on the field. But they were brave players, standing up and joining hands to greet the audience. In response, the audience also chanted, 'Bhutan, Bhutan.' Perhaps this happened to Ziarat, that's why he had been practicing penalties for a week. There was a solid reason behind this. In the SAFF U-19 Championship held in Kathmandu last year, Nepal lost to India in the penalty shootout in the semi-finals. Even then, the responsibility of the Nepali team was on the shoulders of Ziarat. He also made some saves. But the defeat was Nepal's.

The hurt of that defeat is still in my mind. That motivated me to work harder. I was confident during today's penalty shootout. "I believed that I could save Bhutan's attack," Ziarat said. Coach Urjen Shrestha also said that he has full faith in his goalkeeper. Moreover, he was sitting in the box and loudly shouting that Bhutan's special player will miss the penalty. Maybe it was a 'mind game' too.

But what he said happened. Later he said, 'I am also a player, I can guess who will do what at what time. Dorjee was looking incredibly confident as he stepped forward to take the penalty. Again, when Namgyal went ahead for the same job, he had no confidence in him. Being overconfident and having no confidence is not a good situation.

He said, 'We won today's game to win, but the performance is not good. It needs improvement. He argued that either the Nepali players had a little more respect for Bhutan, or else they could not perform their natural game. However, in the full 90-minute match, Nepal's attacks were less than Bhutan's. And he also agreed, Bhutan's performance was good. It should also be appreciated. And, at the end, he also said, 'No matter who the opponent is in the final, it is to win. I don't know more than this.'

Proud of the performance of Bhutanese players

Bhutanese team coach, Hideharu Takahashi from Japan. He often laughs and guffaws. He also laughed and said in the post-match conference, 'Today we are very sad.' Even though Bhutan came close to victory, he was forced to think about how far this victory was in the end. He added, 'Our players played well, I am proud of it. These players will go forward and take Bhutanese football forward. In that sense, I am positive towards my players.

Coach Takahashi has been with this team for a few years, that's why he is so confident about his players. He also believed that the entire tournament proved to be extremely difficult for the Bhutanese team. Bhutan has played three matches without losing a player due to a red card. This is the second time that Bhutan has reached the semi-finals of this tournament and on both occasions the team lost. "This fact makes us sad," he said.