Maldivian
Football Association (F.A) Cup 1999 champions club Valencia drew against Chinese
champions Daalian Wonder side football club in a nerve-jangling match. Even though
Valencia rested key five players, (Thoddoo Nizam, Ali-Umar, Sisee Yousuf, Sobaah and goalkeeper
Habeeb) they inspired the overwhelming crowd by playing some gritty
soccer, in the 11 Asian
Cup Winners' Cup in Male', Maldives. Daalian won 8 goals to nothing in the
first leg in China.
Daalian
found themselves in trouble when they conceded an early goal in the second half until they found an
equalizer in the late 81st minute to level the game.
This
is believed to be the biggest ever victory for a Maldivian club against a team
outside SAARC. Maldivian clubs are well set
against neighboring country teams from Sri Lanka, India, Nepal but they always
manage to lose against teams from Japan, Thailand, S.Korea, China etc.
But
the story changed when Valencia finally drew against one of the better sides
in whole Asia.
Final
score
Valencia
1 (Adam Lareef- Ronaldo)
Daalian
1 (Zieyn Yaokoon)
