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| Time to worry: do we have any chance in this tournament |
It looks like we have mustered the art of doing it always too
little too late. Under national team coach Istvan Urbanyi that seems to be the
case so far.
We lost by a whisker in the qualification of AFC Challenge
Cup in 2009. A difference of single goal was all it took for compatriot Bangladesh
to shut the door for us. In SAFF 2011 the team was doing fine till we meet
mighty India in the semi-finals. Within minutes 15 minutes Maldives top
marksman Ashfaq was hobbling and the reminder of the match was the depressing
sight of 10-men Maldives trying to find the Indian goal with every conceivable
shot on target, which was not to be. Was it a case of bad luck?
The latest hurtful endeavor was AFC Challenge Cup 2012 which
was already forgone conclusion because two of our three opponents were better
than us in every aspect. As was predicted we lost against Turkmenistan and Palestine
though a win against hosts Nepal was too little too late.
Maldives coach and his U-22 national team embark on another journey
of bitter sweet fight in the qualification games of AFC U-22 Championship 2013.
Maldives is drawn in a tough Group C, with Iran, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Kuwait
and Qatar to overcome. Coach has already pierced, the air of expectation we
have, by the arrow of reality. “Based on the preparations we had so far, it’s a
bit early to talk about the chances”. So the message is clear.
The realistic chance of Maldives making any inroad into the qualification
is almost non-existent. This
is not more than a routine participation in a competition we have no realistic
chance and if the guys learned anything well and good.
So this it, we will be eternal pushovers in the continental competitions
and always playing second fiddle to those around us. Is it?
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