Maldives lose 5-1 to South Korea in China Futsal Tournament opener

The Maldives national futsal team suffered a 1-5 defeat against South Korea in their first match of the China International Futsal Tournament played at Yinchuan Gymnasium in China. Despite being ranked 99th against South Korea's 69th in the world futsal rankings, the Maldives took an early lead. Mohamed Saeed Nizar scored the opening goal on his official debut for the national futsal team, capitalising on an opportunity created by Ahmed Rahil Rashid (Rakko). After the Maldives' goal, South Korea intensified their play and scored three times before the end of the first half to take a two-goal lead. In the second half, they added two more goals. Shin Ha scored a hat-trick for South Korea; one goal was an own goal off a Maldivian player's body, and the other was credited to the South Korean team captain. Maldives will face Hong Kong in their second match on the seventh day of this month. Hong Kong is ranked 118th in the futsal rankings, the lowest among the participating teams. In the final match of the round-robin tournament, the Maldives will face hosts China, ranked 84th, on the ninth day. The team with the highest points after all matches will be crowned champion.