The Nepal Weekly 
October 29, 2024
Nepal team won the semifinal 4-2 on penalties beating India team. The game was paused for around 68 minutes and lasted for almost three hours as a dispute took place. The game was played at Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu on Sunday.
The dispute occurred after a goalless first half when Rekha Poudel of Nepal was shown a second yellow for a contentious challenge made by India’s Ranjana Chanu in the 50th minute. Poudel was seemingly caught by the Indian player when she tried to clear the ball in midfield.
However, referee Om Choki showed Poudel a second yellow and a red, leading to a protest from Nepal players and team management. That halted the game for 13 minutes.
India broke the deadlock in the 70th minute through a long-range strike from ShangitaBasfore. With all of India’s players celebrating the goal on the sideline with their team management, Nepal equalised by sending the ball back into an empty net directly from the midfield following the resumption.
Even though it appeared that the referee had signalled for resumption, Nepal’s goal was eventually disallowed as all the Indian players were still making it into the field, leading to another protest from the hosts. The game was then halted for over an hour as Nepal players walked off the field.
After the game resumed again, Nepal’s Sabitra Bhandari put one past the Indian goalkeeper to level the score in the dying minutes and celebrated wildly in front of a raucous home crowd.
The scoreline stayed the same till full-time. The game was taken to tie-breaker to decide. That made Nepal won on penalties, thanks to the two saves made by substitute goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar.
In the final at the same venue on Wednesday, Nepal will face defending champions Bangladesh, who thrashed Bhutan 7-1 in the other semifinal earlier on the day.
