Nepal will come out at Dashrath Stadium eyeing nothing less than a win against Sri Lanka at the AFC Challenge Cup Group D qualifiers on Monday. Nothing less than a win will be enough for the home team to qualify. Both teams know each other well because they have played each other a number of times. In fact, on paper both teams are equally balanced though Sri Lankan have upper hand as they had won 7 among 11 match played between two teams. Nepal have 3 win in their favor while one was a draw. With Nepal a spot above Sri Lanka which is 173rd in the FIFA ranking there is not much difference.
However, Nepal’s recent performance has been promising and the team jubilant with victory against physically fit Afghanistan and a well fought 0-1 loss against North Korea has brought positive change to the team.
Sri Lankan, on the other hand, are yet to win a match as they lost their inaugural match against North Korea 0-4 and were humbled by Afghanistan 0-1.
According to Nepal’s English coach Graham Paul Roberts, his team will not settle for anything less than a win. “We can’t take chances as it is a big game which we have to win,” the Brit said, “But I am positive we will win as we have worked hard for the last ten weeks.”
With Anil Gurung and Jumanu Rai in the starting line up, Roberts is confident they will win the battle. Rohit Chand will also play his part. But Sagar Thapa’s twisted right ankle is a problem.
“I will decide on the team on Monday morning after looking at Thapa’s progress,” Roberts said, “If he is fit by then, that will be a boost for the team.”
A confident Roberts also urged local supporters to turn up to boost the morale of their team. “Come and chant for us and we will not disappoint you.”
However Sri Lankan have nothing to lose, so they are not under pressure. Sri Lanka´s assistant coach Damodor Chandrashree is also not in the mood to give up. “We will do our best against Nepal,” he had said during a pre-tournament press conference.
With all four teams having played two matches each, defending champions DPR Korea, maintaining a 100 percent record, are atop the table with six points, while Nepal and Afghanistan share the second spot with three points each. Even Nepal and Afghanistan along with strong North Korea already had point in points table every team has chance to Qualify for the second round.
At Halchowk Stadium, Afghanistan will battle it against the group toppers North Korea on Monday. Afghanistan just like Nepal need but a win to qualify while North Korea are in a comfortable place with two wins from as many matches.
