2014 AFC Challenge Cup

The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup was the fifth and the final edition of the AFC Challenge Cup,^[1] an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nations that are mainly categorized as "emerging countries" in the now defunct Vision Asia programme. It took place in the Maldives from 19 to 30 May 2014.^[2] The champions, Palestine, qualified to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.^[3]

2014 AFC Challenge Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Maldives
Dates	19 – 30 May
Teams	8
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Palestine (1st title)
Runners-up	Philippines
Third place	Maldives
Fourth place	Afghanistan
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	35 (2.19 per match)
Attendance	51,500 (3,219 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Ashraf Nu'man (4 goals)
Best player(s)	Murad Ismail
Best goalkeeper	Ramzi Saleh
← 2012 2016 (AFC Solidarity Cup) →

Palestine were crowned the victors after winning the final against the Philippines 1–0 after Ashraf Nu'man scored a free kick in the 59th minute. Palestine won the title with a perfect sweep of individual awards. This includes Murad Ismail as the best player, Ramzi Saleh as the best goalkeeper, and Ashraf Nu'man as the top scorer.^[4]

Hosts

The AFC decided that an automatic qualification place would be given to the tournament's hosts starting from this edition.^[5] Four countries then expressed interest in bidding to host the tournament; India,^[6] Maldives,^[7] Philippines,^[8] and Tajikistan.^[9] The AFC announced on 13 November 2012 that the Philippines and Maldives were in the final shortlist to host the finals.^[10] The final decision was taken in the AFC Competitions Committee meeting on 28 November 2012, and the hosting rights were given to the Maldives.^[11] The Maldives Ministry of Youth and Sports then claimed that they wanted to host the tournament due to the poor facilities they encountered in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup which the Maldives qualified and competed in.^[12]

In mid-November 2013, AFC president Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa announced that the Philippines would be the backup hosts "if something goes wrong in Maldives."^[13] By 25 November, the AFC proposed - pending the approval of the Executive Committee - to move the tournament from the Maldives to the Philippines if the Maldives do not start the required renovation work by 15 December 2013.^[14] The AFC then inspected possible venues in Manila and the Philippine Football Federation claimed that they would be ready to host the tournament if given the nod.^[15][16] Despite this, the Maldives' Ministry of Youth and Sports said they would do everything necessary for the country to host the tournament.^[17][18] On 7 January 2014, the AFC announced that the Maldives would remain as the host of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup.^[19]

Venues

After the Maldives were given the hosting rights of the tournament, the Maldives' Ministry of Youth and Sports stated that the listed venues below would be used but renovations would be required.^[12] Renovations then started in mid-January 2014 and was expected to be completed within 90 days.^[20][21] In a function on 12 May, the National Stadium was handed over to the Ministry of Youth and Sports and opened by President Abdulla Yameen. The stadium was also re-branded as the 'National Football Stadium'.^[22][23] Another function six days later at the second venue, originally known as the Hithadhoo Zone Stadium, was handed over and inaugurated by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. It was also re-branded as the 'Addu Football Stadium'.^[24]

Malé, Kaafu Atoll	Malé Addu City		Addu City, Addu Atoll
National Football Stadium			Addu Football Stadium
4°10′26.7″N 73°30′47.1″E			0°38′28.68″S 73°8′28.8″E
Capacity: 13,000 (renovated)			Capacity: 5,000 (renovated)

Qualification

Main article: 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification

The qualification draw was held on 11 December 2012 in AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[25] The twenty teams involved in the qualification draw were drawn into five groups of four teams. The five group winners plus the two best second-placed teams qualified for the finals. North Korea, the 2010 and 2012 champions, were excluded from participating in the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup.^[11]

Qualified nations

Country	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament
Maldives	Hosts	28 November 2012	1 (2012)
Afghanistan	Group C winner	6 March 2013	2 (2006, 2008)
Myanmar	Group A winner	6 March 2013	2 (2008, 2010)
Palestine	Group D winner	6 March 2013	2 (2006, 2012)
Laos	Best runner-up team	21 March 2013	0 (debut)
Kyrgyzstan	Group B winner	21 March 2013	2 (2006, 2010)
Philippines	Group E winner	26 March 2013	2 (2006, 2012)
Turkmenistan	2nd best runner-up team	26 March 2013	3 (2008, 2010, 2012)

Draw

The eight participating teams were drawn into two brackets of the group stage. To prepare for this, the teams were separated into four pots of two teams each based on their performance in the 2012 edition of the tournament with the exception of hosts being placed in Pot 1. The final draw was held at the Paradise Island Resort in the Maldives on 12 February 2014.^[26][27]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Maldives (hosts)  Turkmenistan	Philippines  Palestine	Kyrgyzstan  Afghanistan	Laos  Myanmar

Squads

Main article: 2014 AFC Challenge Cup squads

Each team can name a squad of 23 players.^[3]

Group stage

Tie-breaking criteria

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss) and tie breakers are in following order:^[3]

1. Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
2. Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
4. Goal difference in all the group matches;
5. Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
6. Kicks from the penalty mark if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
7. Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches; (1 point for each yellow card, 3 points for each red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for each direct red card, 4 points for each yellow card followed by a direct red card)
8. Drawing of lots.

Key to colours in group tables
Top two placed teams advance to the semi-finals

• All times UTC+5.

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Palestine	3	2	1	0	3	0	+3	7
Maldives (H)	3	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4
Kyrgyzstan	3	1	0	2	1	3	−2	3
Myanmar	3	1	0	2	3	5	−2	3

Source: RSSSF
(H) Hosts

Palestine	1–0	Kyrgyzstan
Abuhabib 90+6'	Report

19 May 2014 (2014-05-19)

16:00

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 500

Referee: Yudai Yamamoto (Japan)

Maldives	2–3	Myanmar
Umair 55' Ashfaq 90+6'	Report	Kyaw Ko Ko 39', 90+5' Nyein Chan Aung 45+1'

19 May 2014 (2014-05-19)

21:00

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 8,300

Referee: Abdullah Balideh (Qatar)

---

Myanmar	0–2	Palestine
	Report	Abuhabib 45+4' Nu'man 50'

21 May 2014 (2014-05-21)

16:00

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 600

Referee: Nagor Amir Noor Mohamed (Malaysia)

Kyrgyzstan	0–2	Maldives
	Report	Ashfaq 61', 71'

21 May 2014 (2014-05-21)

21:00

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 8,000

Referee: Wang Di (China PR)

---

Maldives	0–0	Palestine
	Report

23 May 2014 (2014-05-23)

21:00

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 8,300

Referee: Yudai Yamamoto (Japan)

Kyrgyzstan	1–0	Myanmar
Verevkin 18'	Report

23 May 2014 (2014-05-23)

21:00

Addu Football Stadium, Addu City

Attendance: 300

Referee: Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Philippines	3	2	1	0	4	0	+4	7
Afghanistan	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	5
Turkmenistan	3	1	0	2	6	6	0	3
Laos	3	0	1	2	1	7	−6	1

Source: RSSSF

Turkmenistan	5–1	Laos
Baýramow 42' Durdyýew 50' (pen.), 85' Keodouangdeth 55' (o.g.) Hojaahmedow 87'	Report	Sayavutthi 34'

20 May 2014 (2014-05-20)

16:00

Addu Football Stadium, Addu City

Attendance: 500

Referee: Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)

Philippines	0–0	Afghanistan
	Report

20 May 2014 (2014-05-20)

22:00^{[nb 1]}

Addu Football Stadium, Addu City

Attendance: 500

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

---

Laos	0–2	Philippines
	Report	Rota 41' Reichelt 63'

22 May 2014 (2014-05-22)

16:00

Addu Football Stadium, Addu City

Attendance: 300

Referee: Dmitriy Mashentsev (Kyrgyzstan)

Afghanistan	3–1	Turkmenistan
Amiri 45+1' Hatifi 61' Shayesteh 86'	Report	Muhadow 64'

22 May 2014 (2014-05-22)

21:00

Addu Football Stadium, Addu City

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Jameel Abdulhusin (Bahrain)

---

Turkmenistan	0–2	Philippines
	Report	P. Younghusband 49' Reichelt 73'

24 May 2014 (2014-05-24)

16:00

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 500

Referee: Nagor Amir Noor Mohamed (Malaysia)

Afghanistan	0–0	Laos
	Report

24 May 2014 (2014-05-24)

16:00

Addu Football Stadium, Addu City

Attendance: 600

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	27 May
	Palestine	2
					30 May
	Afghanistan	0
					Palestine	1
	27 May
					Philippines	0
	Philippines (a.e.t.)	3
	Maldives	2
					Third place
					29 May
					Afghanistan	1 (7)
					Maldives (p)	1 (8)

Semi-finals

Palestine	2–0	Afghanistan
Nu'man 43' (pen.), 47'	Report

27 May 2014 (2014-05-27)

15:30

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 500

Referee: Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)

---

Philippines	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Maldives
P. Younghusband 19' Lucena 38' C. Greatwich 104'	Report	Umair 36' Abdulla 66'

27 May 2014 (2014-05-27)

21:00

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 8,300

Referee: Abdullah Balideh (Qatar)

Third place play-off

Afghanistan	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Maldives
Karimi 114'	Report	Fasir 118'
Penalties
Alikhil Zazai Hadid Karimi Faqiryar Sharityar Daudi Sakhizada Shayesteh	7–8[28]	Ashfaq Abdul Ghanee Fasir Rilwan Qasim Rasheed Ali Mohamed Fazeel

29 May 2014 (2014-05-29)

21:00

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 6,500

Referee: Dmitriy Mashentsev (Kyrgyzstan)

Final

Main article: 2014 AFC Challenge Cup final

Palestine	1–0	Philippines
Nu'man 59'	Report

30 May 2014 (2014-05-30)

21:00

National Football Stadium, Malé

Attendance: 6,300

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

Winners

2014 AFC Challenge Cup champions
Palestine First title

Statistics

Player awards

• Top goalscorer: Ashraf Nu'man^[29]
• Most Valuable Player: Murad Ismail^[29]
• Best goalkeeper: Ramzi Saleh^[29]

Goalscorers

4 goals

• Ashraf Nu'man

3 goals

• Ali Ashfaq

2 goals

• Mohammad Umair
• Kyaw Ko Ko
• Abdelhamid Abuhabib
• Patrick Reichelt
• Phil Younghusband
• Didar Durdyýew

1 goal

• Zohib Islam Amiri
• Ahmad Hatifi
• Hamidullah Karimi
• Faysal Shayesteh
• Vladimir Verevkin
• Khampheng Sayavutthi
• Assadhulla Abdulla
• Ali Fasir
• Nyein Chan Aung
• Chris Greatwich
• Jerry Lucena
• Simone Rota
• Döwlet Baýramow
• Bahtiýar Hojaahmedow
• Süleýman Muhadow

Own goal

• Vathana Keodouangdeth (playing against Turkmenistan)

Team statistics

This table shows all team performance. Matches that ended in a penalty shoot out are counted as draws

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Reached the knockout stage
1	Palestine	5	4	1	0	6	0	+6
2	Philippines	5	3	1	1	7	3	+4
3	Maldives	5	1	2	2	7	7	0
4	Afghanistan	5	1	3	1	4	4	0
Eliminated in the group stage
5	Turkmenistan	3	1	0	2	6	6	0
6	Myanmar	3	1	0	2	3	5	−2
7	Kyrgyzstan	3	1	0	2	1	3	−2
8	Laos	3	0	1	2	1	7	−6

Notes

1. Kickoff delayed from 21:00 due to rain.

References

1. "Revamp of AFC competitions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
2. "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2014" (PDF). The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
3. "AFC Challenge Cup 2014 Regulations" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
4. "Historic football victory provides another global stage for Palestine". Mondoweiss. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
5. "Tajik FF applauded for excellent hosting". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
6. "India to bid for 2014 AFC Challenge Cup". Zee News. 9 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
7. Ameen Faisal (13 October 2012). "Maldives submits bid to host AFC Challenge Cup". Maldives Soccer. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
8. "Philippines keen on Challenge Cup hosting". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 17 March 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
9. ФФТ подала заявку на проведение финала Кубка вызова АФК-2014. FFT.tj (in Russian). Tajikistan Football Federation. 20 October 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
10. "India's AFC Challenge Cup bid in doubt - report". Goal.com. 13 November 2012. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
11. "Maldives to host 2014 AFC Challenge Cup". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 28 November 2012.
12. Shimaz Ali (29 November 2012). "Minister announces full support to FAM to organise Challenge Cup". Maldive Soccer. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
13. "AFC: RP ready to host meet". Tempo. Philippines. 16 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
14. "ACL: East vs West final proposed". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 25 November 2013.
15. Karlo Sacamos (1 December 2013). "AFC inspects possible Manila venues as it weighs possible Challenge Cup switch". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
16. Karl Decena (4 December 2013). "PFF ready to host 2014 Challenge Cup should Maldives fail to meet renovation deadline". Interaksyon. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
17. Shimaz Ali (26 November 2013). "Maldives will start the work before the deadline – Minister". Maldive Soccer. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
18. ޗެލެންޖް ކަޕް ބޭއްވުން މި ވަގުތަށް ވަރަށް މުހިންމު: މިނިސްޓަރު (in Divehi). Maldives: Haveeru. 3 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
19. Karl Decena (8 January 2014). "2014 Challenge Cup to remain in Maldives". InterAksyon. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
20. Shimaz Ali (13 January 2014). "Renovation works starts". Maldive Soccer. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
21. "Hithadhoo Zone Stadium development project officially begins". Sun Online. Maldives. 15 January 2014. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
22. "Renovation of Galolhu National Stadium complete: AMIN Construction". Sun Online. Maldives. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
23. Shimaaz Ali (16 May 2014). "National Stadium re-branded". Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
24. "Zone Stadium rebranded as 'Addu Football Stadium'". Sun Online. Malidves. 18 May 2014. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
25. "Up for the challenge". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
26. "AFC Challenge Cup draw date set". Asian Football Confederation. 7 January 2014.
27. "AFC Challenge Cup 2014 draw". Asian Football Confederation. 12 February 2014.
28. Mohamed Sajid (29 May 2014). "Maldives wins third place". Maldives Soccer. Archived from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
29. "Palestinians take top individual awards". AFC. 30 May 2014.

External links

• AFC Challenge Cup, the-AFC.com