Tshering Dorji’s strike minutes from full time earned a historic win for Bhutan against Sri Lanka in the 1st leg of the 2018 World Cup Qualifier.
Bhutan’s win in the first leg of Asia’s first qualifying round was also their first against another country since a 3-1 triumph over Afghanistan in 2008. Before Thursday, Bhutan had only three wins to their name and were beaten 5-2 by Sri Lanka in their last international match, at the 2013 South Asian Football Championships in Kathmandu. It was a historic moment for the tiny Himalayan country who are ranked 209th in the world – which is the last in FIFA rankings against the much fancied Sri Lanka ranked 172nd.
The performance from the side, who were once thrashed 20-0 by Kuwait in an Asian Cup qualifier in 2000, drew praise from even FIFA president Sepp Blatter who described it as “a wonderful, historic moment” on Twitter.
The hot & humid weather was expected to be the bane for Bhutan but they quashed any such weakness as they put in a dominant performance throughout the 90 minutes. The defense of Bahadur Gurung, Jigme Dorji, Karma Nidup and Dawa Gyeltshen were a pillar of strength for the visitors as their brilliant defending, calmness and composure invigorated the midfield and attack to pile on the pressure on the Sri Lankans.
Sri Lanka’s strike duo of Chathuranga Sanjeewa and Shanmugaraja Sanjeev were anonymous while Chencho Gyeltshen was the lone threat upfront creating havoc for the back three of Sri Lanka. From a corner Chencho came agonizingly close to giving the lead but was denied by the far upright and the rebound, with the goal at his mercy fired wide. Sri Lanka came into life in the latter half and was also denied by the crossbar when Captain Chathuranga Sanjeewa headed a Nalaka Roshan cross.
Sri Lanka coach Nikola Kavazovic, clearly not happy with the first half performance brought in a double change early in the second half bringing on playmaker Zarwan Johar and Nipuna Bandara who showed signs of making an impact but were well negated by the determined defense. As the game went on with Sri Lanka frustrated, Bhutan coach Chokey Nima brought in another striker in Lungtok Dawa to support Chencho. In the 86th minute a counter attack on the right saw goalkeeper Sujan Perera block a shot but the rebound fell to Dorji who drilled the ball into the back of the net on the rebound sending the minority Bhutan fans into frenzy. Bhutan fans, who were medical students studying in Sri Lanka were their 12th man as they noise and cheering drowned the dumb struck host fans.
“It’s a very happy moment for my life. It was moment that I have been waiting for…it was a precious moment to score, and it was a perfect moment to score the goal,” Dorji told 
reporters.
Sri Lanka’s head coach Nikola Kavazovic said his team paid for taking Bhutan lightly but was confident they could overturn the deficit in the return leg on Tuesday.
“They were a better team and they deserve to win,” said the Serbian. “We thought the Bhutani team was going to be easy but the things were totally different on the field. Everything went wrong for us.
Sri Lanka boss Nikola Kavazovic admitted: “Yes, it is embarrassing, losing to the worst team in the world. I’m still convinced that we are going to win the second stage.”
The goal can be seen at 1:40:50
