Kuala Lumpur: After five editions of the AFC Challenge Cup, the last-ever game was held on May 30, 2014, when Ashraf Nu'man scored the only goal of the match as Palestine defeated the Philippines 1-0 in the final in Male to become the 16th and final qualifier for the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015.
Three years to the day since Palestine’s momentous achievement, the-AFC.com looks back at the last AFC Challenge Cup, played in the picturesque surroundings of the Maldives.
A brief history
The AFC Challenge Cup was inaugurated in 2006, when Bangladesh hosted the 16-tournament in which Tajikistan eventually defeated Sri Lanka 4-0 in the final to be crowned the first-ever champions.
Two years later the competition returned with just eight teams, but this time the Central Asians would be the team to concede four in the final as hosts India ran out 4-1 winners.
DPR Korea then became the dominant force, getting the better of Turkmenistan in both the 2010 and 2012 finals in Sri Lanka and Nepal as the East Asians secured successive titles.
The last hurrah
After four successful editions of the AFC Challenge Cup, a tournament designed to offer competitive continental action to Asia's lower-ranked teams, the fifth and final edition was held from May 19-30 in the Maldives.
The eight-team event, hosted in the capital Male and Addu City in the south of the archipelago, featured the hosts, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Myanmar, Palestine, the Philippines and Turkmenistan.
And with no former winners represented in the South Asian island nation, a new champion would be crowned come the end of the tournament.
Hosts scrape through
Competing in just their second AFC Challenge Cup, the Maldives did not get off to the ideal start when Myanmar ran out 3-2 winners thanks to Kyaw Ko Ko’s decisive strike in their Group A opener in front of more than 8,000 fans at Male's National Stadium.
Abdulhamid Abuhabib, meanwhile, came off the bench to score a 96th-minute winner for Palestine in a 1-0 victory over Kyrgyzstan to set the early pace in the group.
Both the hosts and Palestine claimed wins against Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar respectively in the second round of fixtures, before the pair played out a scoreless draw as the Maldives advanced with the Palestinians thanks to Myanmar’s 1-0 defeat to Kyrgyzstan.
Turkmenistan fall short
After finishing as runners-up in the previous two editions, Turkmenistan got off to a fine start in Group B by seeing off debutants Laos 5-1 to move into pole position following the Philippines and Afghanistan’s scoreless draw.
But it all turned sour for the Central Asians as a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Afghanistan was followed with a 2-0 reversal to the Philippines, who had earlier defeated Laos and advanced as table-toppers.
Afghanistan joined the Southeast Asians in the semi-finals after a scoreless draw with Laos left them undefeated on five points to secure a first-ever knockout stage appearance.
Perfect Palestine
Appearing in their second successive AFC Challenge Cup semi-final, Palestine were looking to go one better than in 2012 when they lost to eventual champions DPR Korea by overcoming last-four newcomers Afghanistan.
Still yet to concede, Palestine progressed to a first final as Nu'man scored just before and immediately after the interval to secure a 2-0 victory.
Maldives fall just short
The second semi-final was arguably the match of the tournament as the hosts were pitted against the Philippines, who had also yet to concede.
Another packed house in Male’s National Stadium saw Mohamed Umair cancel out Philip Younghusband’s opener, only for Jerry Lucena to give the Philippines a 2-1 half-time lead.
The hosts came back, though, as Abdulla Asadhulla leveled on 66 minutes to ultimately force extra-time. But Christopher Greatwich would break Maldivian hearts by netting the winner on 104 minutes to round off a thrilling 3-2 win.
Something to cheer
Fortunately for the hosts, the tournament ended on a high note following another dramatic encounter in the third place play-off with Afghanistan.
After 90 minutes failed to separate the sides, Hamid Karimi opened the scoring for the Afghans with six minutes remaining, only for Ali Fasir to force penalties with an even later goal.
With the scores tied at 7-7 after eight penalties apiece, Faysal Shayesteh missed for Afghanistan to allow Ibrahim Fazeel his moment in the sun by slotting home the winning spot-kick to clinch third place.
Palestine make history
The final pitted East against West as the Philippines and Palestine faced off in search of their first continental title.
After a goalless first half, it was Nu'man who again proved the hero, curling home a delightful free-kick from 25 yards just before the hour for what proved the only goal of the game.
The Azkals tried in vain to claw themselves back into the tie but Palestine proved too strong as they lifted the title in perfect style having played five, won four and conceded none to advance to their first AFC Asian Cup.
It was a night of double celebration for Nu'man, who claimed the top scorer award with four goals while teammate Murad Said was named MVP.
“This was a historic match and a historic achievement,” said Palestine coach Jamal Mahmoud. “We had experience in the last Challenge Cup when we made mistakes and we took that experience for this championship.”
An era remembered
The AFC Challenge Cup may have proven a relatively short-lived competition, yet for Tajikistan, India, DPR Korea and, finally, Palestine, the tournament provided some of the proudest moments in the nations’ footballing histories and will live long in the memories.
Palestine were the only debutants a year later at the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015, when they suffered defeats to Japan, Jordan and Iraq to fall at the first hurdle.
But for the Arab state, just to be at the continental competition represented a huge achievement on the back of their crowning glory seven months earlier in the Maldives.
Photos: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com