The Maldives national football team has departed for Australia to play against Timor-Leste in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers. The match against Timor-Leste on the 10th of this month in the Asian Cup Qualifiers is scheduled to be played at the Territory Rugby League Stadium in Darwin, Australia. The national team traveled to Darwin, Australia on Friday night to play the qualifying match, and in preparation for this match, the national team played an international friendly match against Singapore on Thursday. Singapore won that match with a score of 3-1.
However, in the press conference held after that match, team coach Ali Suzain said that they learned a lot from the match played before the Timor-Leste game, and that the Singapore match was important for the team as Maldives has been away from international football for a long time. Maldives will play six matches in the Asian Cup Qualifiers, with the first three matches being played away. In the first match played away, Maldives lost to the Philippines with a score of 4-1. After the Timor-Leste match, the next match will be against Tajikistan on October 9th.
Of the home matches in the Asian Cup Qualifiers, the first match will be against Tajikistan on October 14th. After playing the second match against the Philippines on November 18th, the national team will then face Timor-Leste on March 31st next year.
