Sports
AFC U-19 Women’s Qualifier: Nepal take on Thailand today
Nepal open their AFC U-19 Women’s Championship Qualifier campaign with a match against hosts Thailand at the Chonburi Stadium on Wednesday.Nepal open their AFC U-19 Women’s Championship Qualifier campaign with a match against hosts Thailand at the Chonburi Stadium on Wednesday. Despite being drawn against India, Pakistan and Thailand in Group ‘B’, Nepal still harbour hopes of advancing to the second round. The winners from all six groups and two best second-placed teams will progress to Round 2 of the Qualifier. Thailand also hosts the tournament proper and so are assured of a place in the Finals irrespective of their results in the Qualifiers.
If Thailand top their Group, the runner-up of their group advances to the second round and if they finish among the two best runners-up, the third best runner-up advances to the second round. Top four teams from the second Qualifier will join Japan, North Korea and China for the Finals along with Thailand.
Nepal coach Hari Om Shrestha believes his team have a strong chance of making into next round as another team besides Thailand. “Our target is to qualify for the second round and we have good chance of making it happen as Thailand out of the equation,” said Shrestha adding that Thailand were the strongest team in the group.
Shrestha was also buoyed by the fact that his team had recently defeated both India and Pakistan in the SAFF U-18 Women’s Championship held in Thimphu. The tournament was held on September 28-October 7. Nepal had drubbed Pakistan 12-0 in the group stage before beating India in tiebreaker during the semi-finals.
“Thailand are a very strong team and we will look to steal a point from them. We will have to adopt defensive approach while looking for an opportunity to score in counter attack,” said Shrestha whose team is preparing for the Qualifier for over two months. He also said that match against India will be vital in determining their second round fate. The inclusion of Nepali internationals—midfielder duo Saru Limbu and Manjali Yonjan and goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar—have made the team balanced, believes Shrestha.
Thailand appears well prepared for the tournament having held a 10-day training camp in China and a friendly matches there. They also played friendly matches against North Korea, Mexico and China’s U-19 teams. They are boosted by the inclusion of three internationals players—two midfielders and a defender—in their squad.
Thailand coach Arun Tulwattananghul chose to took cautious approach against Nepal. “We haven’t seen Nepal before but hope it will be competitive. We will play to win all three matches,” he said. Nepal will take on India on October 26 and wrap up with a match against Pakistan two days later at the same venue.