Afghanistan beats Maldives 3-1

Afghan players, who looked physically stronger in the field than their opponents, adopted attacking game from the beginning but it took 45 minutes for them to take the lead.

Masoud broke the deadlock in the 45th minute scoring in a counter attack.

Earlier, Masoud had scored a goal in the fifth minute but he was off side, while the Maldives missed some chances in the first half.

Al Ahmad, who replaced Afghan goal scorer Masoud in the 46th minute, doubled the advantage for Afghanistan in the 72nd minute scoring from 25 yards.

Mohammad Ahmadi's solo effort paid him off in the 82nd minute as he was quick to take the ball from the middle of the field to the Maldives' penalty area to slot in brilliantly.

Hamdhaan scored a consolation goal for the Maldives three minutes later. Hamdhaan converted Aisam Ibrahim's pass in the 85th minute but it was too late.

Both the teams also wasted number of chances in the second half.

Maldives forward Majeed Ahmed's shot went inches out of Afghanistan net in the 66th minute, while Afghanistan's Abozarsherzai was denied by the Maldives' goalkeeper Maeesh Mohamed in the 51st and 53rd minutes.

Related story

India completes Maldives troop withdrawal

Despite losing the match, Maldives coach Athif Mohamed was satisfied with the way his side played.

"We have new players in the team having less experience and the way they played against physically stronger Afghanistan side was good," said Mohamed, who added that his side will play an improved game against India scheduled for Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan coach Hayatullah Logarwal said that his side did not meet their expectation in the match.

"We wanted to win the match and we did, but players did not meet the team's expectations," said Logarwal, who also added that his side will try to present improved game against India. Afghanistan is scheduled to play India on Sunday.

On Saturday, Bangladesh will play against Bhutan in Group A match.