Gurgaon, Mar 25 2011 :Afghanistan beat Bhutan 2-0 on Friday to mark their place in the qualifying round of the AFC Challenge Cup 2012 in the second match played at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here.
Afghanistan now join world cupper DPR Korea, Sri Lanka and the hosts Nepal in Group D scheduled to be held from April 7 to 11.
It was an easy passage for the Afghanistan in the first match, but a resurgent Bhutan gave a decent account of themselves in the first half Friday as the scoreline read 0-0.
Afghanistan after having some nervous moment in the first half, were back to business as they went ahead in the match scoring in the 65th minute through midfielder Nadeem Wahid.
They wasted no time to send their opponent on the back foot as Israfeel Kohistani doubled the lead five minutes later.
Afghanistan almost got the third goal, but to their despair Hasmatullah Barekzai shot hit the cross-bar.
Bhutan coach said,''We played well in the first half, but it was lack of experience in the second half. Afghanistan is very good side and I wish them all the best for the next round.''
Afghanistan coach, Yosuf Kargar said: '' It was good performance from the boys in
both the matches. We will need to perform better in the qualifying round.''
''We have played against Nepal and Sri Lanka earlier, so we do know their style of play. DPR Korea played in the last World Cup and is a very good team, we will need to continue in the same fashion,'' he said.
For more photos click here https://picasaweb.google.com/ahmadfaisalsidiqi/AfghanistanVsBhutanSecondMatch#
