Spirited Team Sri Lanka held a formidable India for a nil all draw in the 6th Asian Communities Football Tournament match on 02/02/2018, which was played in Al Markhiya Stadium in Doha – State of Qatar. Both teams played fast and exciting football which was highly applauded by the event organisers and spectators. The first ten minutes of the game was fully dominated by the Sri Lankans and they had a couple of golden opportunities which they failed to convert.
Read : Sri Lanka take on India in Asian Communities Football
In the second half both teams were attacking each other’s halves and both teams missed a few goal scoring opportunities. The Indian defence line was absolutely brilliant and tactfully judged the Sri Lankan strikers offside line which certainly saved a couple of solid goal chances. For Sri Lanka the goal keeper Mohamed Mulafer made the difference as he intercepted many goal scoring opportunities by India which eventually made him the Man of the Match. Following Mulafer, Sri Lankan defenders namely skipper Mohamed Ijaz, Ahmed Jareeth, Mohamed Zaid and Mohamed Sana did great work to hold the Indian strikers and experienced midfielders Manoj Siriwardana, Izzathul Anam alongside Mohammed Farsath and Mohamed Shifan combination worked well in the midfield. Mohamed Risni and Mohamed Hassan did a decent job from the front but it was not enough to cross the goal line.
With these game points Sri Lanka climbed to second place behind tournament favourites Jordan in group A. A large Sri Lankan expatriate crowd were gathered at the venue and distinguished guests from Sri Lanka Coordinating Committee (SLCC) in Qatar were the guests of honour for this game. Sri Lanka’s next match is against Philippines on 16/02/2018 at 9.20 pm at Markhiya Stadium.
Sri Lanka Squad
Mohamed Ijaz (Captain), Manoj Siriwardana (Vice Captain), Mohamed Rizwan (Vice Captain), Ahmed Jareeth, Mohammed Frasath, Mohammed Ishrath, Ahamed Hassan, Usama Al Fazly, Azeer Mohamed, Mohammed Imthath, Mohamed Mukreem, Mohamed Mulaffar, Asela Karunarathne, Mohamed Rikas, Mohamed Sameer, Khalid Asmil Mohamed, Mohamed Shifan, Mohamed Zaid, , Muhammadh Azman, Mohammed Shamil, Izzathul Anam, Aazath Mohamed Ibrahim, Thuwan Haleemdeen and Mohamed Sadikeen. Dilshan Wahid (Manager), Mohamed Faris (Head of Operations), Mohamed Haniffa (Head of Team Affairs), Paul (Head Coach) and Mafaz Zubair (Fitness Coach).
