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Victory to face Hurriyya to battle for a place in the final
24 October 2005
Valencia under attack: Henrikson, Issey and Dhona in Valencia
penalty area
Male',
MALDIVES -
Victory sports club beat Valencia by 5-1 in tonight's game to meet Hurriyya on 27th October to battle for a place in the final of ongoing 55th National Tournament.
In first half, both teams had a very attacking game. Valencia's forward line organized with Mukthaar, Ali Umar, and Sunain started to create chances one by one. In one of those chances, Ali Umar crossed to Mukthaar, who was all alone in the penalty area. He checked the position and then placed the ball in the top corner of the goal. Keeper Imran had no chance of saving the ball.
Meanwhile Victory tried to attack the ball from crosses by Fazeeh and Ismail Mohamed which was fed to Shiyam (Dhona) and Henriksen. In one of those balls, Dhona gave a very nice through pass to Ismail Mohamed who came from the left side, shot from a half volley which went straight to the corner of the goal. Valencia's defense was not organized during that attack. They left the ball for Dhona thinking it was offside
After the goal, both teams relaxed and played an open game. None of the teams dominated the game. But Assadh's header in the dying minutes of first half was one of the best chances in the match. The header was deflected from the cross bar. Henriksen also got a very good chance. A mistake from keeper aslam, but the shot he made went too wide.
In the second half, Victory started to pressurize from the first minutes of the second half, and goals came one after another. Valencia changed the formation and made several substititutions but the players lacked any discipline and there was not much desire from the players.
Dhona scored two goals and Henriksen also scored two goals. He was one of the new Denmark players who are playing for victory in this tournament
In the post match news conference, Waheed (Binma), the assistant coach of Valencia who is filling the boots of Chris, said that the players played well in the first half, but the defense lacked any discipline and made several mistakes.
"We played very good football in the first half. If we have used all the chances we got in the first half we would have been in the winning side. But all of those chances were missed. So after the break, the goals came one after another and players could not cope with it. " said the disappointed coach.
He also noted the missing players and the unfit players.
"We had unfit players and players with a few practice. Aslam started practice recently and Sampath is out because of injury. Ashfaaq is also missing in the team" Binma said.
Answering a question asked by maldivesoccer, Binma said that the substitutions had no effect in tonight's game.
"I brought the substitutions because they scored goals in a quick succession. But that did not have any effect. I brought Assadh a little bit forward. But more goals kept coming in and I had to replace him back again. The thing about Valencia is if we loose we loose it big" He said.
The delighted coach, Mauroof (Maattey) was full of praises to the Victory players.
"We played very well in the first half even. But we did not score as much as we wanted and I told the players during the break that if we play like the same we will win. They showed that they have the capability to win" Mauroof said.
When asked about the foreign players he said that he will not judge them. It is upto the media and the supporters to judge them.
"We brought them to score goals. And one of them scored two goals when we needed it badly. So I would say they have done their job. But it is for the fans and the media to decide whether they are good for the team or not."
Mattey also said that he is looking forward to the Huriyya match.
"We lost two tournaments this year because of Huriyya. So we want to beat them in the third time. They have a very strong and a very energetic young team. They would fight till the last minute. " Mauroof commented about his next opponent.
Maattey also said that he hopes to win the President's cup.
"We will try our level best to get hold of this cup and we urge the fans to be behind us." He added.
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