Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Male: Fellow opening day winners Myanmar and Palestine face-off in the AFC Challenge Cup on Wednesday, while hosts Maldives take on Kyrgyzstan with both sides looking to put their Group A challenges back on track.
Myanmar, who bravely beat host Maldives 3-2 with 10 men on Monday, take on Palestine in the afternoon kick-off at the National Stadium in Male.
Palestine also showed huge courage on Monday by defeating Kyrgyzstan 1-0 following a goal in stoppage time.
Kyrgyzstan, meanwhile, face Maldives later at the same venue with both teams needing a win to boost their semi-final hopes.
“We showed great spirit,” said Myanmar coach Raddy Avramovic following the win over the Maldives.
“It was great to get a win in our first game, but now we focus on Palestine who are a very good team and play attacking football.”
Myanmar were inspired by the performance of striker Kyaw Ko Ko, who scored two goals and at times terrorised the Maldives defence.
“We have one day to rest, so it is very hard on our players, but it is the same for all teams,” added the Myanmar coach.
Myanmar, who finished fourth at the AFC Challenge Cup in both 2008 and 2010, are currently joint top in Group A with Palestine.
Palestine, who finished fourth in Nepal two years ago, edged out Kyrgyzstan thanks to a winner from substitute Abdulhamid Abuhabib with just seconds remaining.
“After a difficult first game, we feel very confident,” said Palestine coach Jamal Mahmoud.
“All the teams in this group are strong, so to get three points in our first game is perfect.
“The weather made it very difficult as it was so hot and we face the same problem against Myanmar as kick-off is 4pm. They will be in the same position though after a tough opening game.”
Maldives scored twice against Myanmar through Mohamed Umair and Ali Ashfaq, but were ultimately undone after conceding twice in quick succession at the end of the first half.
“We lost a battle but not the war,” said Drago Mamic, who became Maldives coach in March.
“As I have been saying since the beginning, the team who can rotate its players the best will win as the matches are close together and these are hot conditions.
“We conceded cheap goals against Myanmar. There were always three on one against us at the back, and this was not good.”
Kyrgyzstan, who failed to qualify for the previous AFC Challenge Cup in Nepal, reached the semi-finals in 2006 and coach Sergey Dvoryankov still believes his side can at least match that achievement in 2014 despite Monday’s heartbreaking defeat.
“The result won’t affect the overall outcome. We will still qualify,” said Kyrgyzstan coach Dvoryankov.
“I saw enough in my team to know we can qualify. We will stay with the same strategy which is to play attacking football.”