Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa Trophy Sri Lanka secures final spot in Four-Nation Soccer Tourney

BY SUSIL PREMALAL

Sri Lanka secured their place in the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa Trophy Four-Nation Invitation Football Tournament final when they edged out Bangladesh 2-1 in a decisive round-robin match played at the Racecourse Grounds in Reid Avenue yesterday. The final between Sri Lanka and Seychelles will be played on Friday at the same venue. Sri Lanka took the initiative and built up an early lead as they opened the scoring in the 25th minute through Player-ofthe- Match Waseem Razeek. However, Bangladesh came back strongly after the break and produced the equaliser in the 70th minute through the boot of Mohamed Rana (substitute ) Sri Lanka made a determined effort to snatch the lead and they were eventually rewarded with a penalty in the dying moments of the game with Razeek once again adding the finishing touches in style. This is only the third occasion that Sri Lanka had qualified to play in a major football tournament final after their performance at the 1995 SAARC Gold Cup in Colombo and at the 2000 Golden Jubilee Maldives Invitation Tournament 21 years ago. Sri Lanka won both the tournaments. Sri Lanka finished with a total of four points from three games having won one, drawn one and lost one match. They were tied on points with Bangladesh but progressed having scored more goals.