Nepal look to end title drought
KATHMANDU, JUL 30 -
Hosts Nepal will be eyeing maiden U-16 SAFF Football Championship title when they take on former champions India in the summit clash at the Dasharath stadium on Tuesday.
It has been a while since Nepali football team last won a major tournament. But the youth team’s promising run this time around, through to the tournament final, has considerably raised hopes of the home fans. The home side have netted 16 goals—more than the total that all the other teams have scored in the tournament.
Nepal team coach Bal Gopal Maharjan is pinning high hopes on his wards to lift the title in front of the home crowd. “We have performed better in all departments against the opponents. And if we play according to the plan I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t clinch the title,” Maharjan exudes confidence in his side. “We have done better than India in this tournament and the statistics show that.” But he is careful not to get ahead of himself, as he conceded that they needed to beef up their defence going into the final.
A semi-final defeat to India in the tournament’s inaugural edition has not lost on Maharjan—making them all the more keen to pay back the debt to the rivals.
However, the Indians themselves will be keen to reclaim the title they lost 2-1 to bitter rivals Pakistan in the final of the last tournament.
Both Nepal and India have travelled the distance without losing a match. After a 7-0 rout of Bhutan, Nepal played out a 1-1 draw with Afghanistan and knocked out Pakistan with a 3-0 win to reach their second successive semi-final where they defeated Bangladesh 5-1. India came into the final with the perfect record, starting with a 4-1 victory over Sri Lanka 4-1. They put off the challenge of Bangladesh 2-0 before edging Afghanistan 4-3 on penalties in the semi-finals.
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