Nepal concludes Malaysia tour with defeat

Published On: May 24, 2017 09:15 PM NPT By: Republica  | @RepublicaNepal


KATHMANDU, May 24: Nepali women's national football team has concluded its Malaysian tour with 4-1 defeat to the home team on Wednesday.

In the final friendly match played at Likas stadium of Kota Kinabalu, Shereilynn Elly Pius scored a brace for the home side Malaysia while Nur Athirah Mamat and Puteri Noralisa Wilkilson netted one goal each. Skipper Sajana Rana scored a consolation goal for Nepal.  

Nepali team which had travelled to Malaysia to play two friendly matches as part of preparations for the upcoming SAFF Women's Championship had produced 1-1 draw against the home team on Monday. Nepal had defeated Malaysia 1-0 in a friendly played at ANFA Complex at the end of last year.
 
Malaysia took an early lead in the match with midfielder Shereilynn Elly Pius opening the scoring in the third minute. Malaysian team which considers the friendly matches against Nepal as the preparations for upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, extended its lead by 2-0 against the visitor in the 42nd minute with Nur Athirah Mamat's goal. The home team made 3-0 in the 54th minute as Shereilynn Elly Pius netted her personal second of the match. Skipper Sajana Rana scored Nepal's first goal of the match in the 82nd minute but that turned out to be a consolation goal as Puteri Noralisa Wilkilson scored five minutes before time to help Malaysia register an impressive 4-1 win over visitors.
 
After the match, Nepali head coach said that failing to cope with Malaysia's physical game was the main reason behind the defeat. “We lost the physical battle which cost us dearly,” said head coach Thapa. 

Meanwhile Malaysian head coach Mohd Asyraaf Fong Abdullah expressed his delight after pulling victory over Nepal. “This result has great value. Nepal is strong team and such a positive result indicates that we have prepared well for the upcoming Southeast Asia (SEA) Games. A draw and win against Nepal has enhanced our confidence,” said head coach Abdullah.
 
“These friendly matches were great chance for us to know our weaknesses and sort them out and made us even stronger,” added Abdullah. 

Nepali head coach Thapa had taken 20 players to Malaysia making just one change in the squad that had participated in SAFF Women's Championship 2016 with skipper Sajana Rana replacing Dipa Adhikari. 


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