Unbelievable support

Jun 02, 2014 - 11:58:47 | Shimaaz Ali
Ashad taking the penalty kick against Afghanistan on 29th May in AFC Challenge Cup. (MS Photo: Shimaaz Ali)

Male’, MALDIVES – Maldives national team midfielder, Ashad Ali (Adey) has said that support for his incredible penalty kick against Afghanistan was unbelievable.

Adey deceived the Afghanistan keeper Mansur Faqiryar, one of the best goal keepers in South East Asia, by performing a swallow dive before he had taken the spot-kick. And which helped the Maldives to win the match 8-7.

Speaking to maldivesoccer.com, Adey said that the support for this goal was unbelievable throughout the world.

“I am really happy for the support on this goal especially on the social media as well as well-known media agencies throughout the world.”

“I don’t think that there is any rule saying that it was against the rule. And I think it was a good one and I am sure if it’s a wrong one than the referee would have not accepted it.”

Some media reports said that it will be a good thing for the players to learn how to take a spot-kick after watching Adey’s penalty. The goal on YouTube got more than 6 million views within just 3 days.

The following are some of the headlines in international media about Adey’s goal.

“Assad 'Adey' Ali scores 'swallow dive' penalty for Maldives against Afghanistan. Maldives striker re-invents the penalty kick with bizarre swallow dive” - Telegraph

“Rooney, Gerrard and Wilshere take note! This is how to score a penalty” – Dailystar

“Is this the funniest penalty ever?” - BBC

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bluestriker on Jun 02
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A legend, just make Maldives more popular..
Boris on Jun 02
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Adey's cheeky penalty is perfectly valid penalty, there is no room for anybody to make case for doubt. When FIFA amended amended penalty taker's rule ahead of 2010 world cup its secretary general Jerome Valcke told a press conference."Feinting in the run-up to take a penalty kick to confuse opponents is permitted, however feinting to kick the ball once the player has completed his run-up is now considered an infringement," Adey's tumble to deceive the goalie falls in the category of feinting in the run up.
Ahan on Jun 03
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Irrelevant to the article but we(Imma,footballmad) have been talking about this. Guys it seems we will not be able to reach the 20th position in FIFA ranking for the AFC. But we will be very close to that. If we have won the Afghan match in playing time then we might safely land in 20th or above. ::: Anyway the best news is for Palestine, they will jump to the 10th in AFC!!!!! And now i am thinking how amazing it would be if we won this tournament??!!! we will be in 90s in FIFA ranking??!!! what an achievement it would be for our football!!! Anyway that chance has gone now but still i am hoping that FAM has build a solid relationship between these Challenge cup teams, so that we can play regular friendly games with the likes of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Phillippines.
Imma on Jun 07
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Well, it wasn't to be ours, but I think we did not do any harm at all to our reputation in the eyes of the rest of Asia. It was refreshing to see the players playing with their hearts on their sleeves against better opponents. Hopefully, like you said, this will provide us with a platform to play frequently in friendlies against the Central Asians and South East Asians. It's a step up from the usual dross we play against in training camps at Thailand.
footballmad on Jun 03
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Agree, a great story. Btw, could MS find out any news on the delayed D. League? Thanks.

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