Südschwede hat geschrieben:Wieso der Elfer nun wiederholt werden musste hab ich irgendwie nicht gerafft. Es ist doch keiner zu früh in den Strafraum gerannt.

The onslaught of pressure launched by Nepal, as well as a some questionable officiating, set a zero-or-hero stage for Afghan goalkeeper Mansur Faqiryar (#1) in the second half. And he undoubtedly emerged as a hero.

In addition to a number of spectacular saves over the course of the match, Faqiryar managed to save a penalty kick struck by Rohit Chand after a dubious call that left him with a yellow card for knocking a Nepalese player down while coming out to grab a cross. Much to the chagrin of the Nepalese side, the astonishment of the crowd and the sheer joy of his teammates, Faqiryar managed to save a second penalty kick immediately after the first when the official ordered a re-take claiming Faqiryar had moved from his line prematurely. The Afghan goaltender then came up big again in the last moments of seven minutes of stoppage time when he made a diving save to keep out a header from Magar the Nepalese substitute.

After the game, President Hamid Karzai offered praise for the team and congratulated Faqiryar in particular for his spectacular performance.

Faqiryar has only allowed a single goal in the SAFF tournament, which he conceded against Sri Lanka in Afghanistan's 3-1 victory during group play. He managed a clean sheet against both of Afghanistan's other Group B opponents in a 3-0 victory against Bhutan to begin the tournament and a 0-0 draw last Friday against fellow semi-finalists the Maldives

VfB-Torwart trifft im Finale auf Indien

Kathmandu/Oldenburg Mansur Faqiryar, Torwart des Fußball-Regionalligisten VfB Oldenburg, trifft mit der Nationalmannschaft Afghanistans im Endspiel der Südasienmeisterschaft an diesem Mittwoch (14.45 Uhr/MESZ) in Kathmandu auf Indien. Für den 27-Jährigen, der auch die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit besitzt, wäre es der erste internationale Titel seiner Karriere.

Die Inder setzten sich im Halbfinale am Montag mit 1:0 (0:0) gegen die Malediven durch. Afghanistan hatte zuvor Gastgeber Nepal ebenfalls 1:0 (1:0) bezwungen. Faqiryar kehrt an diesem Donnerstag nach Oldenburg zurück und könnte im Derby am Freitag (19.30 Uhr) beim BV Cloppenburg im VfB-Tor stehen.