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Niyaz to rescue New Radiant and UAE referee to rescue Al Faisaly
28 September 2005
Male', MALDIVES - Adam Niyaz of New Radiant's header in the 6th minute of second half prevent Jordan's Al Faisaly winning the first leg of Semi Final first match here in Male'.
Al Faisaly's Alshboul took the lead in the 20th minute of the game from his powerful shot outside the penalty area givin no chance to Sadhun to save the ball.
New Radiant's defender Boyko was send off in the dying minutes of the second half with his second booking shown by the UAE referee SAEEDI, Mohamed Omar who was the fourth official of Al Hussein Vs New Radiant match played in Jordan, where New Radiant striker Thoriq sent off. Both Al Hussein and Al Faisaly coach pointed out the performance of Boyko in the defence line of New Radiant and considered a threat to the opponents.
The UAE officials were escorted into the dressing room by police officers after the match, as many spectators showed their angers against them.
During the news conference, New Radiant coach Stoikov criticised the referees saying that his team played against 14 players without three key players. He also noted that the match turned to be more physical in the second half and the referees were failed to make decisions.
"Later in the second half, the game changed and it was all physical. The referees did not do anything about it. There were so many rough challenges and the referees just ignored it" the disappointed coach said.
Stoikov also noted that his team played without a striker.
" You should note that we played without a striker, you have seen it for yourself" He said.
Stoikov know the chance for them to advance to next round is very little, because when they face Faisaly in Jordan they will come out with and advantage of an away goal while New Radiant will appear the disadvantage of suspension of Boyko.
"We will try to win the next leg, but the chances is very slim after the sending of Boikov.
I will really miss him. But our squad is very strong and there is not much variance between the players. So we can definitely replace him" He said.
On the other hand Al Faisaly coach Branko appreciated New Radiant for their performance and said if Maldivian teams play football like this, they will soon reach very high in football.
"If Maldives play football like this they can go very high. They got a very cheerful crowd, good players and a good atmosphere." Cheering the newradiant team he said.
He also noted that his team got a good chance to advance to the next round. A 0-0 draw is good enough for the Jordan giants to confirm a place in the final, but Branko wants to prove his fellow Al Hussein team that New Radiant can be beaten.
"We have the better chance. If we go for a draw also we will go to the next leg, but I will play for a win."
He once again complained about the weather saying that rain created a lot of problems. Earlier in an exclusive interview to maldivesoccer the coach complained about the sun light.
"It is very bad today. It is too humid and when it rained it got too worse. See my hand it is too humid" the coach said showing his hands.
After the match, Al Faisaly team was escorted to the Jetty, to leave Male' to the Giravaru Resort, by Police with full security.
New Radiant supporters believe that their team could win this match if AFC appointed non-Arab referees.
" The referee is very much on one side. They(AFC) should not appoint arab referees to a match like this when a team is facing an Arab team. May be they don't want a team from tiny Maldives to reach so high in this big Asia" a disappointed fan expressed his feelings outside the stadium.
New Radiant will face Faisaly in their second leg match in Jordan on October 12th. New Radiant must improve the scoring rate if they wants a place in the final. New Radiant's scoring rate is very low in away games, but their record of not losing in Home soil is still continuing.
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