Pakistan tastes first win in the Football event at the 18th Asian Games
Pakistan win over Nepal by 2-1 in the Asian Games 2018 is the first international victory for Pakistan Football since the lifting of FIFA ban.
Pakistan edged Nepal by 2-1 in their last match of group D to keep their hopes alive in 2018 Asian Games. Nepal could not have scored a single goal if it had not been Shabaz Yonus, Pakistan’s player, to score an own-goal. The goal in the 12th minute put Pakistan down 0-1 to Nepal which lasted for the full first half.
In the second half, Pakistan Football Team regained their strength when the team equalized the score at 1-1 in the 55th minute through Muhammad Bilal. Pakistan went ahead in the 72nd minute with the aid of foul committed inside the penalty box by Nepal. Saddam Hussain of Pakistan converted the resulting penalty to the defining lead.
Nepal gave Pakistan a good fight but stood at the loss in the end with Pakistan’s first victory in the event.
The win gives Pakistan a chance to still qualifying for the knockout stage as among the 4 best third-placed teams in the event.
Final Group D points table stands as below:
| Rk | Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VIE | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 9 | |
| 2 | JPN | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 | |
| 3 | PAK | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 3 | |
| 4 | NEP | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 0 | |
