Home grown players must be top priority

The rescheduled South Asian Federation Football Championship taking place in the first week of September in Kathmandu will put the national football team of Nepal in the spotlight once again.

Since the tournament is taking place in our own backyards, home fans have high expectations for Team Nepal. At least we can hope for the best.  

The obvious question on everyone’s mind is, can they put an end to their dismal losing streak, the longest in the history of Nepali football.

The competition renders   the national squad  yet another  golden opportunity to work their way to success that has eluded them for  nineteen years. The fact of the matter is they have blown   countless chances    to rebound and salvage some   of the lost pride.

The road to success   is not easy to navigate by any means, but with extra  effort, drive and enthusiasm, it’s doable. There is not much to separate   one team from another in terms of playing style and level of play.

Looking back at Team Nepal’s past performances,  they  stood toe to  toe with each opponent but let themselves down by their inability to  finish out  games within their grasp.

Despite India’s domination , there  are truly no dominant teams and the  tournament is wide open. Having said  that , the   competition, however,   has become much more   intense and  competitive in the last few  years .

Apparently, every competing   team’s   ultimate   goal is to bask in the   glory.  With India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh in the mix,  Nepal  needs an excellent   performance to have a chance  to succeed.

Meanwhile, for die hard supporters   like   me, the waiting game continues to date. I am an optimist yet a realist in the real sense . I   still believe good things can happen  to Nepali football, despite so much uncertainty.  

There is nothing  more painful, agonizing and frustrating than  watching  your team  struggle and go through an endless phase of disappointment and ignominy. We are   left  wondering ,  just  what is wrong with Nepali Football.

Everyone knows what ails Nepali football. I hate to   sound repetitive,  but  the fact of the matter is that ANFA  led by Ganesh  Thapa is largely culpable   for the sad state of affairs.    

Forget qualifying to  the World Cup or the Olympics , it is too big dream  to be achieved  for  Nepal. It is not   going to happen in our life time. 

And forget not that  success  in  the Asian Games   and the  Asian Cup, remains  a   distant  dream for us  as well.

We have to  set focus   on winning the South Asian  Football Federation Championship (SAFFC) and the South Asian  Federation Games (SAFG)  that  are within our reach truly.

In reality,   if past performance   is any indication, the   going has only gotten tougher  for us  in the regional tournaments, over the years.

I am reminded of  Benjamin  Franklin’s famous quote,  “ Failing  to  prepare  is  preparing to  fail”. This quote is  so absolutely true when it comes to ANFA.

For the most part, the football body has  dismissed the important of an effective and   systematic   pre -tournament   preparations.

For example, let me remind readers   how   the national team   prepared   for the  AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers held in Kathmandu in March 2013.  The close camp in Kathmandu   lasted  barely  a month, and   the team  played   four friendlies  against Pakistan and  local  clubs. Rest is history.

The only exception was preparation for the   last SAFFC held in New Delhi, India. It was possible, mainly  because of  Coach  Graham Roberts’  passionate push for it. This is your football body in action.

With the right   and   timely preparation, coupled with   adequate international exposure ,we  stand a better chance getting things done.. Otherwise, it   will  be  the same old story  for Team Nepal in   another  SAFFC debacle.

The date of   the SAFFC   closes in  but ANFA is yet to announce its plans  to prepare the team.  And Coach Jack Stefanowski has been jetting around   to different countries   in search of  foreign -based Nepali players.

I   wonder   what   selection criteria he has   laid out  to pick players( if he finds any ) from the available  player pool.

To  the best of my  knowledge there aren’t  any   active  Nepali foreign  based players with professional experiences. Even if   he   finds players   it  would be a mistake   to  build the team around them considering the limited time.

It   takes considerable time   for   them   to gel with other members of the team, tactically and technically. This  is nothing but a  dog and pony show in my opinion.

Finding   talented local players should be  Coach Stefanowski’s  top  most priority at the moment. Instead of wasting time, money and energy, he should  travel to places like Jhapa, Dharan, Biratnagar and  Pokhara.

There is no dearth of   outstanding home grown   players   who can   fit perfectly into the national team. It would be unfair and a  huge mistake to overlook   them.

The bottom line is : Long as  Nepali football does not move in the right direction, even  if we hire the world’s best coach , Team Nepal’s fortune will remain unchanged.