Sports
Nepal set for Dhaka test
With the 12th South Asian Games (SAG) in India fast approaching, Nepal are taking the Bangabandhu Gold Cup football tournament as a platform to fine tune their preparation for the February 5-16 regional meet.With the 12th South Asian Games (SAG) in India fast approaching, Nepal are taking the Bangabandhu Gold Cup football tournament as a platform to fine tune their preparation for the February 5-16 regional meet.
The junior Nepali team on Thursday left for Dhaka, Bangladesh to participate in the Bangabandhu Cup slated for January 8-20. SAG football is an U-23 competition but will be allowed to field three senior players in a squad. Nepal’s current team for Dhaka tournament comprises of four seniors in skipper Biraj Maharjan, Bikram Lama, Rabin Shrestha and Nawayug Shrestha.
“We are training regularly for the last two or three months. This team has the potential of making into the second round. Most importantly, the tournament will give us an opportunity to sharpen ourselves for the SAG,” said coach Bal Gopal Maharjan who is replacing Patrick Aussems after the Belgian coach’s return to Nepal remained uncertain.
Nepal are pitted in Group ‘A’ of the Gold Cup and will meet Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and defending champions Malaysia. Nepali senior team in December last year lost a friendly game against Bangladesh before losing to Sri Lanka in the Saff Championship. But Maharjan was confident to turn the table. “We played against both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh (recently) and are well aware of their weakness and strengths. We have a plan and I am confident that my boys can execute them,” said Maharjan who is assisted by goalkeeping coach Upendra Man Singh.
The All Nepal Football Association (Anfa) has been accused of making an unfair selection including the players who had not made into the list prepared by Aussems. The former Belgian international had recently slammed Anfa for its lack of professionalism, expressing surprise over the squad separate from the ones he had submitted.
Maharjan, however, claimed the selection had been fair and clean. “When we left for the Saff Championship, we still had a lot of boys training for the tournament (Bangabandhu Gold Cup). Two other coaches were conducting training and the new members were picked up following their recommendation,” claimed Maharjan.
The Nepal squad comprises of three goalkeepers in Bikesh Kuthu, Alan Neupane and Amrit Chaudhary. Rabin, Biraj, Aditya Chaudhary, Ananta Tamang, Dinesh Rajbanshi, Kamal Shrestha and Man Bahadur Tamang are the defenders, while Anjan Bista, Bikram, Bishal Rai, Heman Gurung, Jagjeet, Jangbu Sherpa, Prakash Budhathoki, Sunil Bal and Tej Tamang are the midfield. Bimal Gharti Magar, Nawayug, Suman Lama and Ranjan Bista are the forwards.
Nepal will start their campaign with a match against Malaysia on Saturday before taking on Sri Lanka on January 12 and Bangladesh two days later. The semis are slated for January 17 and 18.
Shakya in for SAG
LALITPUR: Former national team skipper Raju Kaji Shakya on Thursday has been assigned as Nepal coach for the upcoming 12th SA Games. After coach Patrick Aussems decided not to renew his contract and his return almost uncertain, Anfa Chief Executive Officer Indra Man Tuladhar informed that Shakya will lead the team in India for the regional games. Tuladhar also informed that the decision over hiring a foreign coach will be taken after a consultation with Japanese Technical Director Team which is due to arrive Nepal very soon.
KATHMANDU: Nepal slipped four places to 196th in the latest Fifa rankings published on Thursday. Nepal, who crashed out of the Saff Championship from group stage in December, hit a new low in the ranking history after climbing up to 137th position once. Nepal are now the bottom team among the South Asian nations where Afghanistan lead at 153rd spot. Maldives are 157th, while Saff champions India are 163rd. Bangladesh (179), Pakistan (185), Sri Lanka (188) and Bhutan (192) are other South Asian teams in rankings. Belgium top the world rankings.