Mahinda Rajapaksa international football 2012:

Marvellous Maldives champions

Beat Pakistan 2-1 in final :

S M Jiffrey Abdeen Kandy Sports Corr and P B Kirindeniya Nawalapitiya Group Correspondent

Maldive Islands put up a grand performance in the second half to become Champions at the inaugural Mahinda Rajapaksa International Football 2012 by defeating Pakistan 2-1 in the final played at the Jayatillake Sports Complex, Nawalapitiya yesterday. At half time there was no scoring. This tournament was organized by the Sports Ministry and the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL).

Maldives team	Pakistan team
The Maldivian team and the referees being introduced to the SL Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Maldivian Sports Minister Husain Sheriff and FFSL President Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara before the final commenced.	Nice piece of footwork by Maldivian number 10 to avoid a Pakistani defender. Pictures by Kandy Sports Corr. Jiffry Abdeen and Gangaihala Group Corr. Jagath Janapriya

Before the commencement of the match the two teams were introduced to the chief guests Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Maldives Sports Minister Hussain Sheriff. It was a game of missed opportunities for the Pakistanis and they frittered away many chances of scoring especially in the first half due to mis-directed kicking.

The game started on a furious note with both teams pressing hard to score. But the Pakistanis had the edge in the initial half despite their inability to draw blood.

In the 30th minute of this half Pakistan could have opened their account when they got a free kick just outside the penalty box and Pakistan centre forward Kaleem Ullah’s kick struck the top edge of the post and rebounced to play.

A few minutes later Pakistan could have scored again through centre forward Mohamed Adil but was saved by Maldivian custodian Jazlaan Mohamed.

The second half saw the Maldivians playing a more attacking game and this brought dividend.

In the 15th minute a free kick awarded to the Maldivians was taken by centre forward Waheed Rilwan who with a well arrowed kick found the net. Maldivian led 1-0. Two minutes later Maldivian took play deep inside their opponents’ territory and from left flank, left extreme Waheed Rilwan sent a cross pass to centre forward Abdull Abdullah who drew the ball into the nets with a real kick. Maldives led 2-0. In the following period Pakistan tried hard to snatch the initiative by exerting a lot of pressure but the Maldivian failed all their attempts.

With 10 minutes for the final whistle Pakistanis were awarded a penalty. Centre forward Saeed Ahamed’s kick was served by Maldive goalkeeper Jazlaan Mohamed who booted the ball. But Pakistanis Mohamed Adil took control of the ball and aimed at the posts and the ball deflected into the goal off the boots of a Maldivian defender. Maldives led 2-1.

Pakistan once again tried to obtain the equalizer with a view of going for the penalty tie breaker system but were thwarted by their opponents.

G N Robesh referred.