Club Eagles has won its first FA Charity Shield Cup match.

The team played against Maziya Sports and Recreation Club on Tuesday night, in the opening match of the football season.

Maziya took the lead early on, with a goal by Samooh Ali at the second minute. The defending champions of the Dhivehi Premier League (DPL) was able to widen the lead after winning a penalty at the 10th minute. While the penalty was awarded following a goal by Eagles’ goalkeeper, Mahudhee Hussain took the shot.

Club Eagles was not able to show much of a performance during the first half of the match, however, they came out strong in the second half and changed the course of the game less than 10 minutes after the start of the second half.

As such, its first goal was scored at the 67th minute by Zain Zafar while Mohamed Naeem scored its second goal at the 71st minute.

The match remained at a draw for a few minutes, with Club Eagles taking the lead with its third goal at the 75th minute. The goal was scored by Ahmed Rizwan, who assisted in the previous goals by the team.

While the charity match is normally held between the champions of the Dhivehi Premier League and FA Cup of the previous season, a change was brought to hold the match between DPL's champions and runner-ups due to the cancellation of the FA Cup, following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Maziya is last season’s champions while Club Eagles are the runner-ups. This was not only the latter’s first FA Charity Shield Cup win, its also the club’s first time playing the match.

Speaking after the match, Eagles’ coach Mohamed Shiyaz said that “this was not an expected result, especially coming up from behind and winning against such a strong team”. However, he expressed content with the result and players’ performances.

Maziya’s coach, Mohamed Nizam said that despite taking a two-goal lead at the start, that the team was not able to show their full potential during the match. Describing it as a good wake up call for the players, the coach expressed hope that they will do well in the season.

While Advocating the Right of Children (ARC), Special Olympics Maldives and Blood Donors of Maldives were the partners for the charity match, the MVR 100,000 won by the winning team was donated to the three groups equally, as per tradition.

The Dhivehi Premier League 2020 will commence on December 13.