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With  the year 2018 coming to a close, let us take a look back at Nepali football, on and off the  field. Change of Guard Without a shred of doubt, the biggest  story of the year was change of the guard at All Nepal Football  Association(ANFA). After several futile attempts, Mr.Karma Tsering Sherpa eventually fulfilled his long dream of becoming ANFA  President. As a matter of fact,he had a cakewalk at the end after his opponent Mr. Mani  Kunwar, brother in law of former ANFA chief Ganesh Thapa quit the election,unexpectedly. Need of  strong leadership Just like his predecessors, Mr.Tsering  has made a commitment to improve and change the sinking landscape of Nepal football in terms of development and direction. Whether he can turn things around or not, we will have to wait and see. The way things stand, it  is not by any means easy to bring about desired changes.Time will tell. Obviously, it will require strong leadership, professionalism,integrity,transpare

Nepal’s comeback story was short lived as they crashed out of the South Asian Football Federation Championship in Bangladesh. Contrary to expectations,Nepal paid  dearly for sloppy play,defensive lapses,failure to convert  scoring chances and complacency in the 0-3 defeat to Maldives. For the umpteenth time Maldives dashed Nepal’s hopes of winning South Asia’s biggest trophy.As a result, the long championship drought drags on. Football fans across the country  are starting to get frustrated and  dejected with Team Nepal’s below average performance. After  having performed well  against Bhutan and Bangladesh, all seemed hunky dory for Nepal. The overwhelming impression we gathered was that Coach Bal Gopal Maharjan boys had a  great chance to write history. Unfortunately, it did not materialize as  Nepal stumbled badly, unable to rise to the occasion and wasting a big chance to shine. The setback can be attributed to a combination of inept defense,ineffective attack

Overcoming a jittery start to the South Asian Football Federation Championship,Nepal  rebounded with aplomb to reach the last four. So far it has been a terrific bounce back  story for Team Nepal who are very much in the race for South Asia’s premier trophy. Evidently,Coach Bal Gopal Maharjan boys face bigger challenges moving forward ,and hopefully  they give continuation to their good work. Having lost to Pakistan in the opener, Nepal quickly made amends against Bhutan in the  second match,and they successfully carried the momentum into the crucial tie against hosts Bangladesh. In a reversal of fortunes,Nepal stunned the home team,knocking them out of the tournament. They churned out an impressive 2-0  win. Nepal stuck to the game plan, launching attacks and counter attacks throughout.The defense and custodian put in quite a show,frustrating the opponent from finding the net. Striker Bimal Gharti Magar’s superb long range free kick conversion paved the way for

In a must win match against Bhutan,Nepal registered a run away 4-0 victory to keep their hopes alive  at the South Asian Federation Football Championship in Bangladesh. The victory has put back Nepal in the mix and will play Bangladesh in the last group match for a spot in the knockout stage. With two defeats in a row, technically Bhutan has exited the competition, while  hosts Bangladesh have advanced to the next round with two wins. Bangladesh coasted to a solitary goal  win over Pakistan in their second match. The  outcome of the final group matches will decide  the second qualifier from the group. Of the two teams, either it is Nepal or Pakistan that will advance to the round of eight. Although Nepal and Pakistan are tied on points, the former with a better goal difference sits in second place. Both sides are in a similar situation, they need nothing less than a victory. Pakistan  plays Bhutan and must win by a big margin to pip Nepal to the post. A stalemate re