Nepal's success in AFC Challenge Cup

Let me  start  by congratulating  our national football  squad for their success  in the  recently concluded Asian Football Confederation   Challenge Cup  Group D  qualifiers  held  in Kathmandu.

For now I am one happy camper, though the team   looked far from   convincing, over all. Don’t get   me wrong here.  I   am  in  no way  trying to make  our  achievement look small or insignificant.

I am simply  trying  to  make  a statement   purely based on facts. I am one of those rare breeds  not  afraid to   speak my  mind, even if it upsets  people. 

Win is a win no matter what. So is  success  be it in any shape or form. I completely agree. That said, come the  second  round next year, the real litmus test begins for the team. This is the only second time   Nepal has qualified to the next round of the tournament.

   

The   tournament  was  well received by football  goers and every match involving the home side  attracted sizable crowd. Nepal  vs  North Korea  drew the biggest crowd  and gate collection was record  shattering  to speak of.

North Korea, Nepal, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka   competed   for the   two slots at stake. Korea’s   success was a foregone conclusion and   eventually they lived   up  to their expectations.

As for the second  spot  it was a wide- open race  between the three although Nepal had a slight edge  in terms  of home advantages. Fortunately   for us , Coach  Graham Roberts and his boys  were able to pull it off.

The   team’s   accomplishment   was a combination of a win, a loss and a draw,  barely  enough for them to   embark on  a victory lap at  Dasharath stadium  upon completion of their final encounter against Sri  Lanka.

Coach Roberts must have  had a good night sleep because his future with the team  largely hinged on the  final outcome of the tournament. Presumably   All Nepal Football Association (ANFA)   will   extend his contract.

As I write  ANFA is  undecided about retaining Coach Roberts  for a long  term.  It may be recalled that   the Englishman   contract was   for   three months. Whether the football body opts for him or someone else   is yet to be seen. 

Going by  Nepal’s   match by match report card  the coaching staff   are aware  of the fact  that they have a   lot more  hard work ahead of them.  Despite progress, the   team   has   plenty of room to improve  when it comes   to technical, mental and physical aspects.

In addition, the offense   lacked   cohesion, coordination and   consistency, though Coach Roberts   experimented    with different combination.  Statistics   point   to   the  fact  that  we scored  a solitary  goal in three matches, which to me  is  worrisome.

Whoever   is   in charge of the team  has  to  find  ways  to  prop up the attack line  to pave the way  for scoring opportunities.  The   present   line  of players is  talented  and  experienced   and  they certainly  have the ability  to  make it happen.

 More importantly   players  have   to  put in extra effort  and  strike an effective    combination   among them. Otherwise, it will  be quite  a struggle  for the team  against formidable opponents.

On the other   hand , the  defense   put up a  mighty performance  and did  their job.  There  are, however, a few Grey  areas  that need  to be taken care of.

  

The home team got off to a perfect   start   getting the better of    a vastly   improved   Afghanistan   by a lone goal. The match report suggests the teams were evenly matched  although Nepal  seemed  a  tad sharper.

Against   the highly rated   Koreans   studded with world cuppers   Nepal put up a gutsy fight, the best performance in the tournament . The custodian and defense  gallantly withstood the   relentless   onslaught  and   were able to  restrict the opposition    to   a   single goal.

By contrast   Nepal played a drab and dull goalless   draw against Sri Lanka, which raised many eyebrows. Going straight to the heart  of  the  problem  one witnessed  a  terribly out of  sorts  Team  Nepal struggle all the way to the end.

The   high level  of  inconsistency  displayed by the national team has left many including yours’ truly scratching their heads and trying to figure out what  went wrong.

 Does  Nepal   stand   any chance in the second  round  of the tournament ?  Not much.  The   reality   is   that  the  team  has to make a dramatic  u-turn in its overall performance to have any chances and  prove critics like me wrong.

Nobody disputes the fact  that    our national squad preparation for any major  international    for most part  has been  awfully  inadequate and ill managed.  The guilty party is no other than  ANFA  . They   continue to  marginalize  the importance of timely and appropriate preparation by    turning  a blind eye.

The   tune up to the just concluded qualifiers was  in the same page.    The   team played  just two  warm up matches against lowly Bhutan.   Should the football association continue   to take   the   same course   for the next phase of the AFC Challenge Cup,  it   will  be  a perfect recipe for disaster . For now we have to wait and see what ANFA does.

Let us not   get  overly excited  about  our   latest jump in the world   football rankings.  I say this   because it has hardly any significance in the context of Nepali football.   Instead there is a need for a united front to make Ganesh  Thapa and company  culpable and   accountable  for  the  sad state of the game .