Mohamed Shiyaz (Mohan), the coach of the national team, stated that they knew the second match against Sri Lanka in the South Asian Super Cup 2025 would be difficult even before it started, but the national team displayed an excellent performance. After winning the South Asian Super Cup, Mohan said that playing two matches in close succession is very challenging, and since Maldivian football had been halted for about a year, the players were not at their fittest for such matches. Mohan said that despite the difficulty, the effort and excellent performance shown by the Maldivian players were noteworthy and pleasing.
“Our players performed very well. We knew the second game would be more difficult than the first match. The reason is that we haven’t played football for about a year, so the players aren’t physically at their fittest for such matches,” Mohan said. The national team’s goalkeeper, Mohamed Faisal, said that they achieved a very good result with the work done in a short period, and that the national team’s results will improve in the future. Faisal, who showed an excellent performance after returning from a long injury layoff, said that the Maldivian players focused on returning to their country without losing, and he was happy that they maintained this. The Maldives won the South Asian Super Cup 2025 championship with an aggregate score of 4-1 over two legs against Sri Lanka. The first leg of the tournament was won by the Maldives with a score of 3-0. The second leg ended in a 1-1 draw.
In this match, the Maldives took the lead in the 67th minute. Naiz Hassan (Dhaadhoo) scored this goal for the Maldives. He scored by sending a rebound into the goal after a header from Feydhoo Ibbe hit the crossbar. However, Sri Lanka equalized in the second minute of the five minutes of added time. Kalutara scored this goal for their team from an opportunity inside the area. With this result, the Maldives won the South Asian Super Cup, and the two matches played in this tournament were the first matches for the national team since Mohamed Shiyaz (Mohan) took over as the coach of the national team.
Next up for the Maldives are the AFC Asian Cup qualifying matches. The first is an away match against Tajikistan on the ninth of next month. Five days later, the Maldives will play against Tajikistan at home.
