In the afternoon of June 10, the 197th world-class Timor-Leste team faced Maldives, a team currently in 164th place in the FIFA rankings, 33 places higher than Timor-Leste.
Because the home stadium does not meet the standards for organizing international competitions, Timor-Leste was forced to choose the Territory Rugby League stadium in Australia as the "home stadium" for this confrontation.
Playing away from home and without the support of home fans, Timor-Leste still showed a resilient and surprising fighting spirit that created a big shock.
After the first minutes of the match were on par, the turning point of the match came in the 45th minute.
From a sharp attack, Paulo Gali made a favorable pass for Joao Pedro to finish accurately, opening the score for Timor-Leste.
The goal made the entire coaching staff and reserve players of the Southeast Asian team burst into emotion.
Joao Pedro continues to show impressive form for the national team.
Previously, at the 2024 ASEAN Cup, this striker scored and assisted in the match against Malaysia.
It was that impressive performance that helped him be called up to the ASEAN All-Stars squad for the friendly match against Manchester United at the end of May.
Being behind, Maldives increased the pressure in the second half in the hope of finding an equalizer. However, Timor Leste's defense played bravely and was tightly organized.
Despite declining physical strength in the final minutes, the Southeast Asian team still maintained a fragile 1-0 victory until the final whistle.
This victory not only has great spiritual significance, but also marks the first time Timor-Leste has won all 3 points in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.
With this result, they temporarily rose to 3rd place in Group A, equal in points with the Philippines and Tajikistan but have played one more match.
