Reminiscing Nepal's football success at the 1993 SAF Games

There are unforgettable memories   in   life   that keeps lingering in the back of our minds. It can be good or bad or ugly, but you cannot keep your thoughts off it.

I carry one such memory that I would like to share with you. Most of you are very familiar with the storyline I am going to delve into, that is, Nepal’s gold medal performance in football at the 1993 South Asian Federation Games, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Personally, this   football   story   is very important to me because it unfolded right   before my eyes. Also it   provides me the premise   to draw parallels between Nepali football now and then.

Eighteen years have passed, but this success   narrative continues to   live in   our   hearts and minds, for the simple reason, we   have failed to  accomplish anything close so far.

I was a rookie sports reporter for “TKP’ back then. It was my maiden foreign assignment, and, obviously, I was a little nervy, jittery and edgy.  Nonetheless, I was thrilled and enthusiastic   as I could get.

More than anything else, I felt privileged to observe and write firsthand account about fellow athletes   competing in various disciplines.

Football, the mother of sports was the   biggest draw and the most prestigious as well. Nepal along with India, Maldives, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and   Pakistan   vied for the   title.

Nepal was grouped   alongside   Maldives and Bangladesh, and the other group featured India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. To be honest, I never in my wildest dream thought we would end up beating   India for the gold.

All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) led  by  interim  president  Pursottam  Shrestha  was in   turmoil ,  the   team’s   build-up to the   tournament   was   awfully inadequate and  players selection was mired in controversy.

The exclusion of in form   Ganesh Thapa from the   team   was   the biggest   shocker, which I vehemently opposed and   protested but all in vain. It was a direct result of bad blood between Thapa and   ANFA folks who were   hell bent to keep him out of the national team.

What infuriated me most was Coach Dhan Bahadur Basnet’s passivity over the   selection controversy.  As a coach you want the   country’s best striker in   your   team at all cost, instead   he seemed pleased to see Thapa axed.

Amidst all this chaos and uncertainty, Raju   Shakya led a team, what many thought (including me) had little chance to win. 

Minus Thapa the national squad    still had quality players in the likes of Mani Shah, Basant Gurung, Umesh Pradhan, Dev Narayan Chaudhary, Deepak Amatya, Rajesh Thapa, Rajesh Manandhar , Gaynendra Sherchan, and Upendra Man Singh.

In Thapa’s absence the scoring responsibility rested on the attacking trio of Mani, Basant and Deepak. Mani in particular an explosive striker with great scoring ability had to step up, which he did.

Raju and Umesh who spearheaded the defense and midfield respectively provided strength to the team. We kicked off to a somewhat disappointing and lackluster 0-0   draw against Maldives.

The result   was a setback because   we were heavily favored   against the islanders who had (then) taken to competitive football not long ago. The second game against host Bangladesh was a make or break situation for us.

The boys knew that beating the home team on their backyard required a much, much better performance, but they believed it was doable. Much to my surprise and joy, the boys rose to the occasion to churn out a 1-0 victory. The winning goal came off the boot of lanky striker Basant.

I remember the boys go into the crucial match with lots of   positivity and   determination. They desperately wanted   to silence critics like me.  They put in a well concerted effort, coupled with a strong defensive and mid-field play. When it came to scoring opportunity, Basant capitalized it to perfection.

I have reasons to remember the final played at Mirjapur stadium, in which India were the overwhelming favorites to beat Nepal. Not only was the match a ding-dong affair, but it   turned out to be the most memorable.

The Indians dominated the proceedings and looked poised to take the title yet again. Twice they led only to lose out in a pulsating tie-breaker at the end.  

On the day success was made possible because of great team work, tenacity, grit and fighting spirit displayed by our boys. Despite being pushed to the brink of defeat they fought their way back to win.

First   it was innovative midfielder Umesh who restored parity, followed by brilliant Mani’s free kick conversion in the nick of time. In the penalty shoot- out   custodian Upendra performed heroically to hand   Nepal the famous victory.

Since then I have been waiting for   ever   for history to repeat. The closest we came was in the SAAF Championship last year. I am optimistic, though, and I   strongly believe that our young footballers are doing what they need to do to make it happen.