An acrobatic individual performance by Sri Lankan striker Wazeem Razik guided Sri Lanka to hold their rivals Maldives to a 4-all draw in the opener of the inaugural International Invitational Soccer Tournament played for the “Mahinda Rajapaksa Trophy” at Race Course grounds, yesterday.
After trailing 4-0 until the 60th minute of the game, Razik pulled out another sensational performance to rescue his team from certain defeat to force a memorable draw under soggy conditions due to rain in the last few days. It all started from the 63rd minute of the match and, within 27 minutes of dazzling football, Razik scored four goals to bail them out from certain defeat.
Previously, poor defending, followed by a lack of coordination by the midfield players, saw the hosts being comprehensively outplayed, which eventually led the Maldivians to score two goals in quick succession.
The Maldivians had done their homework to perfection and went on the offensive from the outset. They were rewarded for their efforts with two goals. Skipper Sujan Perera was let down badly by his charges and had no chance of saving the goals due to poor defensive play by his teammates.
Striker Akram Abdul Ghanee broke the shackles in the seventh minute with a spectacular goal, and Ali Fasir scored the second goal within two minutes to take control of the game. Lankan strikers Dillon de Silva and Wazeem Razik made valiant efforts, but their goals were foiled by the rival defenders. Ibrahim Mahudhee Hussain scored the third goal for the visitors to give them a healthy lead of 3-0 at the short whistle.
After the turnaround, the hosts changed gears and made a few crucial replacements and adopted an offensive stance. Even though the visitors netted their fourth goal early in the second half through Ali Ashfaq, the Lions bounced back gallantly into the game and mesmerised their rivals to seal a historic draw and keep their hopes alive in the tournament.
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