Group \u2018B\u2019 champions and one of the favourites to lift the title, Maldives take on Nepal in the second semi-final of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup in Dhaka today.
\nThe winner of the match will take on Bahrain Under-23, who won the first semi-final against hosts Bangladesh on Monday, in the final of the competition on January 22 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
\nThe SAFF Suzuki Cup semi-finalists, Maldives booked their place in the last four of the competition with two straight victories over Cambodia and Bangladesh Under-23 team and a draw against Bahrain Under-23s in their last group match.
\nOn the other hand, Nepal reached to the semi-finals as Group \u2018A\u2019 runners-up with a win over Sri Lanka and two draws against Bangladesh and Malaysia XI Felda United.
\nLooking into today\u2019s knockout game, the Maldivians will mostly rely on the form of their forward troika \u2014 Easa Ismail, Nashid Ahmed and Imaaz Ahmed \u2014 who have been more effective compared to the others in the tournament.
\nThe islanders have scored six goals and conceded three times in the competition.
\nMaldives\u2019 coach Ricky Herbert, however, believes that winning the match will not be an easy task for his charges.
\n\u2018The match is going to be a tough and interesting one and we will probably do well against Nepal,\u2019 said the New Zealander.
\nMeanwhile, Nepal\u2019s back four have been their strongest point in the group stage as the Himalayans are yet to concede a single goal in the tournament.
\nDespite the fact, Nepal coach Bal Gopal Maharajan thinks Maldives are the favourites for today\u2019s match and also thinks that their forward line up must improve if they want to end up with a win.
\n\u2018It is great for us that we did not concede any goals in the group stage matches but we need to improve the attacking third against Maldives, who are technically better with some fast players,\u2019 said the Nepalese coach.<\/p>\n

-With New Age<\/strong> input<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Group \u2018B\u2019 champions and one of the favourites to lift the title, Maldives take on Nepal in the second semi-final of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup in Dhaka today. The winner of the match will take on Bahrain Under-23, who won the first semi-final against hosts Bangladesh on Monday, in the final of the competition on … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n