Opportunity for Nepal to break the history of failure

KATHMANDU: OCT. 1 – One of the common goals of Nepali football is to win the title of SAFF championship. When it comes to new coaches, their only goal is to win. But when it comes to a SAFF championship, Nepal repeats the same result.

The dream of fulfilling this goal of Nepali football is starting once again today (Friday). Nepal is once again starting a SAFF championship as a ‘claimant’.

Despite a proud history in the South Asian Games (SAG), Nepal has not been able to cut the ‘sword’ of the semi-finals in the SAFF Football Championship. Therefore, at least this time in the Maldives, Nepal wants to break the ‘zinc’ of continuous failure.

Clearly, Nepal’s best performance is the semi-final trip. Despite reaching the semi-finals three times, Nepal has returned home from there. Nepal finished third in the then first SAARC Gold Cup in 1993. Which is the highest achievement of Nepal so far. But in the SAARC, Nepal became the champion twice. The U-23 team has been playing in the SAARC. Nepal had kissed gold in SAARC in 2016 and 2019 in Nepal. Why is strong Nepal always weak in SAARC? Now is the time to answer it. And that has become an opportunity, SAFF Championship 2021.

This time, the Nepali team that will play a SAFF championship is full of youth. As Nepal’s head coach Abdullah Al Mutairi likes to use it, only time will tell how Nepal will be used this time. Only captain Kiran Chemjong and Rohit Chand will be the most experienced players in the Nepali team. Nawayug Shrestha, Anjan Bista and Bishal Rai have experience of more than two SAFF championships. This is the first time that many players will compete in a major competition in South Asia.

Overall, the Nepali team is full of players with less experience and more young players. So it will definitely be a surprise for other teams. But Nepal will have to win the game against the Maldives today to show its presence. Otherwise, this ‘zinc’ of failure is sure to haunt Nepal again.