Thu, Mar 28, 2024
19.12°C Kathmandu
Air Quality in Kathmandu: 155Sports
Asian Qualifier for 2020 Olympics: Nepali women take on mighty Myanmar
Having played a morale boosting 1-1 draw against India in its opening match on Thursday, Nepal will vie with host Myanmar during its second Group ‘C’ match of the Asian qualifier of the 2020 Olympics at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon.bookmark
Prajwal Oli
Published at : November 11, 2018
Updated at : November 11, 2018 08:48
Kathmandu
Having played a morale boosting 1-1 draw against India in its opening match on Thursday, Nepal will vie with host Myanmar during its second Group ‘C’ match of the Asian qualifier of the 2020 Olympics at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon.
The draw against South Asian giant India was one of the best results Nepali eves have achieved in the international football. Among the nine encounters between the two teams so far, Nepal has lost seven and drawn two matches with the last draw coming during the league round of 2016 South Asian Games.
Unlike Nepal, host Myanmar had gotten off to a flying start with a 5-0 thumping of Bangladesh in its opening match on Thursday and it now sits on the top of the standings in the group comprising of four teams. While Myanmar has three points, Nepal and India are locked on one point each and pointless Bangladesh sits at the bottom. All the sides have played one match each.
Considering the outcome of the first match and FIFA Women’s Rankings, Myanmar is the strongest side of the group. Myanmar is placed at 44th position at the global women’s ranking, way ahead of 108th ranked Nepal. Nepal coach Hari Khadka admitted that the host was the toughest opponent of the group.
“Myanmar is ranked way higher than us and Bangladesh is also doing well. But like all other teams, we are here to give our best. We want to qualify to the next round,” Khadka, the former national team skipper, had said during a pre-tournament press conference.
A defeat against Myanmar will put Nepal’s qualifying campaign under serious threat while a victory will strengthen its bid before the last group match against Bangladesh on Tuesday.
The four group winners and two best performing runners-up will join Uzbekistan and Vietnam in the second round of qualifier to be held next April.
Two teams will make it through to the next round scheduled for April next year. Australia, China PR, DPR Korea, Korea Republic and Thailand have been already given automatic berths for the final phase of qualifying to be held in early 2020.
As host of the Tokyo Olympics, 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup winners Japan will qualify automatically for the 2020 Olympics.
Most Read from Sports
Editor's Picks
E-PAPER | March 28, 2024
×