Sports
Nepal gear up for AFC Championship
Nepal’s U-19 women’s football team is leaving for China on Wednesday to fine tune their preparations for the second round Qualifier of AFC U-19 Championship scheduled for April 26-30 in Mandaly, Myanmar.Prajwal Oli
Nepal’s U-19 women’s football team is leaving for China on Wednesday to fine tune their preparations for the second round Qualifier of AFC U-19 Championship scheduled for April 26-30 in Mandaly, Myanmar.
Nepal are drawn with Australia, Uzbekistan and hosts Myanmar in the Group ‘A’ which sends the winners and runners-up to the finals scheduled for October. The other group consists of Korea, Vietnam, Iran and Lebanon. Nepal will play two friendly matches with age-group teams in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, besides holding training camp there. The team will leave for Myanmar from China on March 23, informed the All Nepal Football Association.
Nepali team boasts six senior players including second-choice goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar and another keeper Usha Nath. Defender Puja Rana Magar, midfielder Saru Limbu and forwards Manjali Kumari Yonjan and Rekha Paudel are the other members of the team. Hari Om Shrestha is the head coach and Prakash Baidhya his assistant. Ashmita Khawas is the goalkeeping coach and Jamuna Gurung is team manager.
Nepal will play against Australia on April 26, Uzbekistan on April 28 before wrapping up their campaign against hosts Vietnam on April 30. Nepal had qualified for the second round as the Group ‘B’ runners-up in the first round held in Thailand in October last year. After losing to Thailand 3-0 in their first match, Nepal had defeated India 2-0 and Pakistan 9-0.
Despite tying on equal six points with the hosts Thailand and India, Thailand finished on top by virtue of scoring the highest three goals among the teams tied on six points. Nepal finished second thanks to the same rule with two goals to their credit.