New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS) Kyrgyzstan scraped past lowly ranked Cambodia 4-3 in the third match of the Nehru Cup International Football Tournament here Sunday.
The sparsely filled crowd at the Ambedkar Stadium got to witness some beautiful football, as both teams did not leave an inch of ground.
But it was the higher ranked Kyrgyzstan that had the last laugh, as they got the goals thorough Samsaliev Talant (17th), Mamatov Bakytbek (24th), Djamshidov Ruslan (49th) and Herchenko Vadim (65th).
For Cambodia, Hok Sotitya (34th), Chan Rithy (40th) and Chin Chum (43rd) made up the numbers. Sotitya was also named the Man of the Match.
Cambodia right from the start looked a different side, after their 0-6 drubbing at the hands of India in the opening match of the tournament. But at the end of the day it was so near yet so far for this Southeast Asian team.
Kyrgyzstan opened scoring as early as in the 12th minute after Talant got a clinical pass on the edge of the box and unleashed his powerful left-footer that gave Cambodian goalie Oum Veasna no chance. Five minutes later, Bakytbek doubled the lead after his well-directed header again foxed Veasna.
After digesting two goals, Cambodia came out firing on all cylinders and scored three goals in a span of 10 minutes and really looked like the winning team. Sotitya opened the scoring for Cambodia in the 34th minute from a free-kick, and his swerving shot gave no chance to the Kyrgyzstan custodian.
The Cambodian seemed to be on a goal spree and found the equaliser six minutes later after Rithy’s shot broke into the net from a deflection that skimmed off a Kyrgyztsan defender from a corner kick. Two minutes from the lemon break, Cambodia went into lead after a measured header from Chum from a corner kick.
Four minutes into the second half, Kyrgyzstan equalised through a beautiful solo effort from Ruslan. After being fed by a long cross from the left flank, he made a solo run in to the box and then dribbled past a Cambodian defender and slammed the ball in the net.
After the equaliser, Kyrgyzstan looked like a relaxed lot and kept on making regular inroads in the Cambodian team but every time custodian Veasna kept on putting up spirited display to thwart all the attempts.
Kyrgyzstan kept on stepping up the pace of the attack and found the winner in the 65th minute through a beautiful header from Vadim.
Teams:
Cambodia: Oum Veasna (goalkeeper), Chan Dara, Kim Chan Bonrith, Soun Thoun, Chan Rithy, Teab Vathanak, Sam Minar, Hok Sotitya (Sam El Nasa, 77), Pok Chan Than, Chin Chum (Sun Sovannarith, 77), Tieng Tiny (Thul Southearith, 66)
Kyrgyzstan: Kahsuba Valeri (goalkeeper), Amin Viacheslav, Samsaliev Talant, Mamatov Bakytbek, Askarov Davron, Kniazev Sergei (Zakirov Rustamjan, 90),
Harchenko Vadim, Bokoev Aibek, Djamshidov Ruslan (Valiev Timur, 75),
Lutfullaev Hurshil (Mirzalive Alambazek, 64), Kornilov Roman
Referee: Srinivasan Suresh (India)