By beating Bhutan 8-1 in its last match of Group A played at JN Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday, Aghanistan cruised to the semifinals of the ongoing seventh SAFF Championship.
Bhutan lost all three league matches. Afghanistan garnered seven points with two wins and a draw. If it tops the group, Afghanistan will meet Nepal in the semifinals the Himalayan Times reported.
Sri Lanka and India are locking their horns to secure their position in the semis.
With four points from two matches, India is below Afghanistan in the group, while Sri Lanka has three points only. A tie will be enough for India to make it to the round-of-four, while Sri Lanka needs to beat India for the achievement.
In today's match, Afghanistan's Balal Arezo scored a hattrick in the first half, and added a concluding eighth goal for his team in the rout.
Ata Mohamad Yamrali had scored the first goal in the fourth minute of the game. Haroon Fakrudin added one more at the 10th minute. Arezo scored on 14th and 19th minutes and in the injury time of the first half. Bhutan's Chenco Gyeltsen had tried to narrow down the goal difference with his lone goal for his team on the 22th minute.
When the half time whistle blew, Bhutan was 5-1 down.
Soon after the second half started, a Bhutanese player fouled on Djelauddin Shartiyar and a spot kick was awarded to Afghanistan. Shartiyar cashed in on the opportunity to score another goal. Mohammad Yousef Mashriqi scored the seventh goal at the 60th minute.
Bhutan lost all three league matches. Afghanistan garnered seven points with two wins and a draw. If it tops the group, Afghanistan will meet Nepal in the semifinals the Himalayan Times reported.
Sri Lanka and India are locking their horns to secure their position in the semis.
With four points from two matches, India is below Afghanistan in the group, while Sri Lanka has three points only. A tie will be enough for India to make it to the round-of-four, while Sri Lanka needs to beat India for the achievement.
In today's match, Afghanistan's Balal Arezo scored a hattrick in the first half, and added a concluding eighth goal for his team in the rout.
Ata Mohamad Yamrali had scored the first goal in the fourth minute of the game. Haroon Fakrudin added one more at the 10th minute. Arezo scored on 14th and 19th minutes and in the injury time of the first half. Bhutan's Chenco Gyeltsen had tried to narrow down the goal difference with his lone goal for his team on the 22th minute.
When the half time whistle blew, Bhutan was 5-1 down.
Soon after the second half started, a Bhutanese player fouled on Djelauddin Shartiyar and a spot kick was awarded to Afghanistan. Shartiyar cashed in on the opportunity to score another goal. Mohammad Yousef Mashriqi scored the seventh goal at the 60th minute.
Source : Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), Mashhad
