Kathmandu: Nepal’s dream of reaching the AFC Women’s Asian Cup finals slipped away in heartbreaking fashion as they fell 4-2 on penalties to hosts Uzbekistan in their decisive qualifying clash of Group ‘F’ in Tashkent on Saturday.

The match went straight to a shootout after Nepal mounted a spirited comeback to draw 3-3 in regulation time. Star forward and captain Sabitra Bhandari scored once in each half, but it wasn’t enough to seal victory.

Nepal trailed 3-1 at halftime but were handed a lifeline when Uzbekistan’s Nozimakhon Ergasheva was sent off with a second yellow card in first-half stoppage time, giving the visitors a player advantage for the entire second half.

In the penalty shootout, Sabitra’s opening attempt rattled off the post, while goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar saw her effort denied by her counterpart Maftuna Jonimqulova. Gita Rana Magar and Sabita Rana Magar converted their spot-kicks for Nepal.

Uzbekistan, however, held their nerve as Maftuna Shoyimova, Umida Zoirova, Madina Khikmatova and Asalkhon Aminjonova all scored from the spot to secure the East Asian nation’s maiden qualification for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup finals since the introduction of the qualifying format in 2005.

Earlier, the Uzbeks got on the scoresheet quickly with DP Xabibullayeva opening the scoring in just the second minute and L Karachik doubling the lead in the 11th. Sabitra pulled one back in the 24th minute but Shoyimova restored a two-goal cushion with a strike in the 39th. Nepal responded with goals in the 72nd and 90th minutes to force the match into penalties.

Only the group winners advanced to the Asian Cup finals to be held next year in Australia. Both Nepal and Uzbekistan had won their previous two group matches convincingly—Nepal defeating Laos 9-0 and Sri Lanka 8-0, while Uzbekistan had overpowered Sri Lanka 10-0 and Laos 7-0.