Kathmandu, November 4

Nepal will be eyeing a berth in the semi-finals when they take on Timor Leste in the Group A match of the AFC Solidarity Cup at the Stadium Negeri in Kuching, Malaysia on Saturday.

The victory will send Nepal to the last four with one match on hand from the three-team pool as Timor Leste have already faced a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Brunei in their first match on Wednesday.

“We have to win both the matches and make the habit of winning,” said Nepal head coach Gyotoku Koji, who was not in mood to take the opponents lightly.

“The match they (Timor Leste) played against Brunei was in the waterlogged pitch and they couldn’t play at their will. We must say that we were unlucky not to see their real performance.

They will come at us as they have already lost one match, but we are all prepared to take them on”, said Koji on the eve of the match. Koji also said that the team’s early arrival to Kuching helped them to acclimatise with the local conditions as the pitches were waterlogged most of the times due to persistent rain.

This will be third meeting between the teams and Nepal have upper hand against Timor Leste. Nepal won both of the previous encounters of the 2012 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu in 2011.

Nepal won 2-1 in the first leg and registered a 5-0 victory in the second leg to advance to the second round of the World Cup qualifiers for the first time.

Nepal’s skipper Anil Gurung, who was among the scorers in Nepal’s last win over Timor Leste, said that the opponents were totally different to that of 2011. “We noticed that they have changed a lot. They played a physical match in the soggy pitch and they were unlucky to concede goals,” said Gurung.

However, Gurung was optimistic about having control over the game. “The waterlogged condition here demands power and physical game. We have experience of playing at soggy conditions back home and as the team is full of young players,” Gurung added.

Timor Leste are also determined of snatching all three points from Nepal despite being under pressure following their 4-0 defeat against Brunei. “We know the match against Nepal is difficult.

But we are ready to give everything to register victory and remain in the continental tournament,” said Timor Leste head coach Fabio Da Silva, who blamed the pitch for their poor result. “Our players were unable to showcase their actual performance against Brunei.”

Timor Leste will also be without forward Rufino Walter Gama who was red carded in the first match.

Likewise, Nepal’s Rajin Dhimal and Ranjan Bista skipped training because of hamstring strain and minor flu respectively and are likely to be rested for the Saturday’s match.

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