Sri Lanka’s football team failed to make it for the next stage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asia Cup 2027 Qualifying Round after drawing the second match against Yemen 1-1 at the Race Course ground in Colombo on Tuesday (17).
Having lost the first game 3-0 to Yemen, Sri Lanka fell below in the aggregate. From the start Yemen played aggressively that enabled them to open scoring early in the game. Yemen skipper Abdulwasea Al Matari’s aggressive kick found the back of the net in the fourth minute to give them a 1-0 lead.
Sri Lanka fought back hard to defend their territory without conceding any more goals and were looking out to score fighting their way hard.
It was well in the 88th minute when Sri Lanka skipper Charitha Ratnayake made contact with the ball with his head to a pass by Shenal Sandesh from the left corner that ended up in the back of the net.
Earlier, Sri Lanka failed to score during the middle part of the game when they missed a penalty kick.
Despite being the underdogs, Sri Lanka displayed determination and resilience as goalkeeper Sujan Perera produced some remarkable bravery to earn the nickname of ‘Super Man’ for his saves.
Ending up on the losing side Sri Lanka skipper Charitha Ratnayake expressed his enthusiasm at the result despite three key players unable to take the field due to illness.
“This is a sign of the standard of football rising and making progress in Sri Lanka,” he said.
(TBR)
