Another missed opportunity for Nepal

A  fiercely  partisan   crowd  of about 25,000 plus  were left shell -shocked,  following   Team Nepal’s   dramatic  and  painful   exit  from the South Asian Federation Football Championship  in Kathmandu.

Dejected home supporters were in   stunned   disbelief   at what they   witnessed. They had thronged   the stadium with high hopes and expectations.

It was suppose to be a night of wild   jubilations and celebrations, instead   an eerie   atmosphere   of sadness and gloom hung over Dasarath Rangashala at the end of play.

I felt/ feel   so   sorry   for   local fans. They packed the stadium for every home game and rallied around the team until the end. Their   support was simply incredible and overwhelming and meant a lot   to the team.

I am pretty sure they will hold onto the passion for their team regardless of the outcome or no matter what.

Coach Stefanwoski boys   were so close, yet so far. They gave their best,   put in a hard day’s work and were fast and full of flair but fell short of the target, after going full-throttle in the whole 90 plus minutes of action.

It was an   agonizing and   heart breaking   defeat for the   hosts at the hands of Afghanistan.  Thus, Nepal’s championship   dream goes up in flames, once again.

Whether   you   like it   or not, one has to accept the fact that Team Nepal   squandered a real opportunity to win, with a grain of salt. Indisputably, it was a   valiant effort by but proved to be in vain in the end.

An uncharacteristic mistake by custodian Kiran Limbu and a costly spot kick miss by Rohit Chand   attributed to the hosts’ ouster   from the competition. Other than that, the team  lacked   penetrative firepower to make a desired impact on the  opposition’s goal.

Chand’s   brilliant   performance was overshadowed   by his failure to convert the crucial penalty kick in the final minutes of play. 

I hate to admit that it was a very poorly executed   attempt by Chand’s standards. He muffed a second chance, after his first penalty kick   saved by the Afghani custodian was ruled invalid by the referee.

Unfortunately for him, he   repeated   the same   mistake and wasted a golden opportunity to restore parity for the home side.  

I do not blame fans   for taking out   their   frustration on him. I know it   is not easy to convert penalty kicks in   a pressure cooker   like situation. It requires a lot of confidence and technique on part of the penalty taker.

Given his stature   Chand   was the right choice   but it was just not his day. He definitely should   have done much better.  By the same token, he should   not be made scapegoat for the team’s debacle.

No matter how well   the team plays, but   if    it fails to close out the game and score goals, it makes little sense.   In competitive football the object   is   scoring and winning. This is   one area,   Nepal has really struggled and continues to struggle.

 It is such a glaring  weakness, and one that has cost  the Nepali outfit  dime-a-dozen games, over the years. The latest debacle, this time   just confirms it.

The more   we wait, the more time we take to bring   new talent to the national team, Nepal’s mediocrity could linger   and fans’  frustration could  keep growing.

We need more   youngsters in the  mould of Bimal Ghart Magar in the national team. The truth of the matter   is  we have  a good number of   highly talented  players, waiting in the wings.

Keep in mind, he present crops   of players in the national team  have reached  a certain level of saturation. If we   want to  seriously build a strong future national team, All Nepal Football Association should get started  nurturing, grooming   young prospects right away .

Afghanistan fully deserved success.  They played their hearts out and  displayed incredible fighting spirit. They   stuck to the   game plan, kept   their composure,  were rock solid  in defense and goal,  effectively executed   offensive and counter attacks.

To sum up,   superlative  goalkeeping  and defensive brilliance  did the trick for Team Afghanistan at the end.

Afghanistan, competing   in the South Asian Federation Football Championship for only the  second time   is  playing their second  consecutive  final against the same  opposition.

This time ,they are looking to upset an unimpressive India.  I feel  the Afghanis  stand a great chance to   accomplish the feat . Whether they  win or lose, they  are   becoming   a  true force to reckon with in South Asian football..