KATHMANDU: Nepal women’s national football team faced defeat at the hands of Uzbekistan 3-2 in a fiercely contested final at the Central Stadium in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan, on Thursday.
With this defeat, spirited Nepali women’s football team taste for maiden international glory continued after coming agonisingly close of lifting the coveted trophy against the tournament favourites today.
Uzbekistan scored the first goal in 39th minute in the first half and hit two more goals in 55th and 64th minutes respectively to take an unaccessible 3-0 lead before Nepal fought back to score two goals but couldn’t find an equaliser to take the game into extra time and settled as runner-up.
Bhandari scored a brace in today’s final although she failed to deliver the maiden trophy for Nepal. Striker Bhandari drilled home after a subline pass from midfielder Anita Basnet in the 67th minute before scoring the second goal in the dying minutes from a penalty spot.
Nepal’s Sabitra Bhandari pose for a portrait after claiming the top scorer’s award. Courtesy: ANFA
Prolific striker Sabitra Bhandari, a joint all-time top scorer with Anu Lama (35 goals) in International matches for Nepal, bagged the highest scorer’s award with 7 goals in the tournament.
Earlier, She had notched four goals against the hosts Kyrgyzstan Republic before drilling a solitary goal in a must game against Tajikistan.
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Written by Mausam
This news first appeared on https://thehimalayantimes.com/sports/nepal-lose-to-uzbekistan-3-2-in-nadezhda-cup-final/ under the title “Nepal lose to Uzbekistan 3-2 in Nadezhda Cup final”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
