Nepal U19 eyes redemption in SAFF Championship after years of near misses

Nepal’s U19 team has a notable track record among the age-group football teams in South Asian Football. Nepal became the champion in the first edition of the SAFF U-19 Championship in 2015, where Nepal was the host team. 

After winning the title in the first two editions, Nepal has not been able to win the championship again. Though it started as a U19 tournament in 2015, the next two editions were held as the SAFF U18 Championship, and two others as the SAFF U20 Championship.

This will be the seventh edition of the tournament and the third time it is being held under the SAFF U19 Championship title.

After Nepal, India has won the title three times, and Bangladesh has won it once. Bangladesh won the title in last year’s SAFF U20 Championship held in Nepal.

Having failed to win the title in the past four editions, the Nepali team is travelling to India on Tuesday with the aim of winning this edition of the SAFF U19 Championship, starting from May 9 to 18 at the Golden Jubilee Stadium, Arunachal.   

The team of experienced 

The team, led by Ram Thapa, mostly includes players regularly playing in the B Division league.  Due to which the Coach of Nepal, Urjen Shrestha, believes that it will be an advantage on the fitness of the players. 

“Overall, we have a good team. Since the B Division is ongoing, it made things easier, but at the same time, we also faced some challenges,” says Shrestha. “We prepared for 45 days. As all the players have been playing in the B Division, their fitness is good. However, there were difficulties in forming team coordination.”

Similarly, Thapa said that the presence of Subash Bam, who has already played for the senior team, has boosted the team’s morale. Bam recently made his debut for the national team in a friendly match against Singapore. He is also part of the senior team’s training camp. 

“Some players even have experience playing in the SAFF U20 last year, which has brought both experience and energy to the team,” says Shrestha. 

Likewise, several players who participated in last year’s SAFF U-17 Championship held in Bhutan have been included in the current U-19 squad. These include team captain Subash Bam, goalkeeper Bhakta Bahadur Pariyar, forwards Sujan Dangol and Pawan Pakhrin, midfielders Krishna Bahadur Ale, Sabin Lungeli, and Bigyan Khadka, as well as defender Prashant Moktan.

Desperate to win

Nepal has always been considered a strong title contender in this age group, yet it failed to win in the last two editions, even when playing on home ground. 

Shrestha, who was the head coach in the last edition as well, is once again leading the team this time. Under his guidance, Nepal had reached the final on home ground but ended up as runners-up after losing to Bangladesh.  

 Earlier, he had coached the U-17 team as well. Despite consistently coaching age-group teams, Shrestha has not been able to win a title under his leadership. That is why he is desperate to win the title this time, and according to him, the team is fully prepared for it. 

“I have coached age-group teams twice. Unfortunately, due to minor mistakes, we could not win the title,” says Shrestha. “In the SAFF U17, we defeated India in the league stage but lost in the final. Similarly, in the SAFF U20, we beat Bangladesh in the group stage but lost to them in the final. This time, we have worked hard on even the smallest details to make sure to avoid those mistakes.” 

India and Bangladesh as the tough competitors 

So far, three teams—Nepal, India, and Bangladesh—have won the SAFF U-19 Championship title. As a result, these three are considered the main contenders for the trophy this time too. Lately, Bhutan has also made significant progress in the age-group category.

Bangladesh is the defending champion, while India has won the title three times and Nepal twice.  Captain Ram Thapa considers India and Bangladesh as Nepal’s main challengers this time.

“India has a strong team. Both India and Bangladesh are tough opponents. If we can beat them, we have a high chance of winning the title,” said Thapa.

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