Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Vientiane: The Maldives sealed their place in the final round of qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 after sharing a 1-1 draw with Laos in Tuesday’s play-off second leg to seal a 5-1 aggregate triumph.
Having won last month’s first leg in Male 4-0, the Maldives were always in a strong position to qualify although Darren Stewart’s side were under pressure for the majority of the return fixture at the National Stadium as Laos created the better of the chances.
But with the home side only able to find a breakthrough with 10 minutes remaining through Khonesavanh Sihavong before substitute Nashid Ahmed equalised for the visitors in stoppage time, the Maldives confirmed their place in the 24-team final round of qualifiers which offers 12 places at the 2019 tournament in the United Arab Emirates, while Laos will now feature in next month’s AFC Solidarity Cup in Malaysia.
“Honestly, Laos played a very good game today. However, our defence did well, we sat back in a line,” said Stewart, who was appointed after the Maldives lost to Yemen in the previous round of qualifiers.
“Our team spirit is very high and the boys showed their desire to play. Thank you for all staff and players for their hard work.
“The difference between this game and last game, we did less attacking and had to defend with a deep line.”
Holding a 4-0 advantage from last month’s first leg, the Maldives came close to adding to their lead after 20 minutes as Ali Fasir broke clear from Nasheed Imran’s pass only for the assistant referee’s flag to halt his run when clean through on goal.
But needing a goal to get themselves back in the tie, Laos threatened eight minutes later as Soukaphone Vongchiengkham saw his deflected shot from outside of the penalty area comfortably saved by Maldives goalkeeper Imran Mohamed.
The Maldives then went close as Fasir was denied superbly by Laos goalkeeper Soukthavy Soundala after 32 minutes before Maitee fired wide for the home side five minutes later.
And it was Laos who finished the half strongly as Sitthideth Khanthavong was first denied by Maldives goalkeeper Mohamed before Phoutthasay Khochalern shot wide from distance.
The home side continued to dominate at the start of the second half as captain Paseuthsack Souliyavong again failed to find the target from long range before Laos were unlucky not to finally break the deadlock as Maitee hit the post after 47 minutes following a mistake from Ahmed Safiu.
Khonesavanh Sihavong then fired wide three minutes later before Maitee’s header from Saynakhonevieng Phommapanya’s cross six minutes before the hour mark was not strong enough to beat Maldives goalkeeper Mohamed.
Laos continued to push forward as Khonesavanh fired a 65th minute free-kick straight at Mohamed, who then comfortably saved from Soukaphone’s header two minutes later.
Further chances fell to Maitee and Sitthideth, who then saw an effort cleared off the line with 13 minutes remaining following good work from Khonesavanh.
But Laos finally found a way past Mohamed with 10 minutes remaining as Khonesavanh netted from close range from Saynakhonevieng’s cross.
The Maldives, though, maintained their unbeaten record under Stewart as Ahmed shot past Laos goalkeeper Soukthavy from Imran’s pass.
“We lost our main man Khampheng (Sayavutthi) in the early minutes, so we had to change the tactics. He would have helped a lot in the attack if he had stayed,” said coach Valakone Phomphakdy, with Laos now set to face Sri Lanka, Macau and Mongolia in Group B of next month’s AFC Solidarity Cup.
“We attacked regularly in second half, and overall it was a good game.”