Pakistan beat Nepal in Asian Games football after 44 years

KARACHI: Pakistan football team won its first match in the Asian Games after about 44 years when it defeated Nepal 2-1 in its last match in Group ‘D’ at Bekasi, Indonesia on Sunday.

The team made the worst start when Shahbaz Younus mistakenly scored the own-goal in the 12th minute.

But the team regained the control in the second half when Muhammad Bilal netted in the 54th minute and later captain Saddam Hussain sealed the win through a penalty in the 72nd minute.

This win has raised hopes for Pakistan to move into the knock-out round.

Earlier, Pakistan were beaten by Vietnam 0-3 in their first match and then lost their second match 4-0 against Japan on Thursday.

Pakistan are ranked 201 in the FIFA ranking and this was their first tournament since March 2015, when they lost the match against Yemen in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.