Regine Subba debuts for Nepal in the match against Malaysia
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Nepal suffered a 2-0 defeat against Malaysia in the third round of Asia Cup qualifiers on Tuesday. Malaysia scored one goal each in both halves. With this, Nepal has started the journey of the third stage of selection with a defeat. This is Nepal's first defeat since Matt Ross came in as the newly appointed head coach.
Malaysia deserved to win today's game. Especially in the second half, we tried to create some opportunities," coach Ross responded after the game, "our team has learned a lot from visiting Malaysia and Singapore. Nepal's performance will definitely improve in the next qualifying match.
Earlier, Nepal defeated Singapore in a friendly match. Hector Hevel scored the first goal in the 29th minute of the match at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Johor Bahru on Tuesday. Laver Korbin-Ong added the second goal in the 71st minute of the game. In the next match of the same group, Vietnam got off to a good start with a 5-0 victory over Laos.
Vietnam proved itself to be a strong contender for the top spot. With this victory, Vietnam and Malaysia remained on the same 3 points. Nepal and Laos remained scoreless. Now, in the qualifying match to be held in June, Nepal will face Laos, while the next match will be between Vietnam and Malaysia.
Nepal played completely defensively against Malaysia and was busy stopping the opponent's attack the whole time. Nepal has not yet scored a goal in any match against Malaysia and this streak has continued. Nepal could not weave any significant attack throughout the game.
Regine Subba got a debut opportunity for Nepal from this match. In other matches of the third round of Asia Cup Qualifiers, Philippines beat Maldives 4-1 and Tajikistan beat Timor-Leste 1-0 in Group A. Bhutan and Yemen played a goalless draw in Group B. Bhutan managed to prove that their level of football has increased as they picked up a point in the qualifiers.
Both the matches of Group 'C' ended in a goalless draw. Singapore and Hong Kong and India and Bangladesh competed in it. In Group D, Turkmenistan beat Chinese Taipei 2-1 and Thailand beat Sri Lanka 1-0. Myanmar beat Afghanistan 2-1 in Group E. Kyrgyzstan stunned Qatar 3-1 at home in Group A of the Asian World Cup Qualifiers. In Group B, South Korea and Jordan drew 1-1. South Korea top the group with 16 points. Jordan is second with 13 points. Australia beat China 2-0 in Group C.
Japan and Saudi Arabia played a goalless draw. Indonesia beat Bahrain 1-0. Japan has already become the first team to qualify for the World Cup. Japan has 20 points at the top. Australia is second with 13 points.
