Nepal celebrates jubilantly after victory over Bhutan (Photos)

Kathmandu, August 25 — The Nepali team has advanced to the finals of the SAFF U-20 Championship football tournament. In the semi-final match held on Sunday at the ANFA Complex in Satdobato, Lalitpur, Nepal triumphed over Bhutan with a 4-1 victory in the penalty shootout.

The match ended 1-1 after regular time. The first half concluded with a goalless draw. Bhutan took the lead in the second half when Jetson Dorjee scored in the 56th minute. Bhutan later went down to 10 players, and Nepal capitalized on this advantage with Neerajan Dhami scoring an equalizer in the 78th minute.

In the penalty shootout, Ram Thapa converted Nepal's first penalty into a goal. Bhutan's Jetson Dorjee also scored his penalty. Nepal’s Avinash Syangtan successfully converted the second penalty. Bhutan’s Jigme Namgel's attempt was saved by Nepali goalkeeper Ziarat Sheikh. Nepal’s Semant Thapa scored the third penalty, while Bhutan’s Ugben Jigme missed his shot, which was again saved by Sheikh.

Ziarat Sheikh then scored Nepal’s fourth penalty, sealing the 4-1 win. The second semi-final of the tournament will see India facing Bangladesh on Monday.

Nepal reached the semi-finals as the winner of Group 'A', while Bhutan progressed as the runner-up of Group 'B'. India topped Group 'B', and Bangladesh advanced as the runner-up of Group 'A'.