Thimpu, September 24

We are still in title race despite the loss in the first match, insisted Nepal head coach Chhiring Lopsang ahead of their SAFF U-18 Championship match at the Changlimithang National Stadium in Thimpu on Monday.

Nepal will take on Bangladesh — who are undefeated in the championship with two wins in as many games — in their third match of the round robin league tournament. Nepal will be under pressure to perform and the match might be decider in their bid to defend the title.

Nepal suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of hosts Bhutan in their opening match on September 20 before registering a 2-0 victory over the Maldives on Friday. On the other hand, Bangladesh rallied to beat India 4-3 before defeating Maldives 2-0.

This match will be second clash between the south Asian teams in the age-group event. They last met in the group stage of the first edition of the championship held at the ANFA Complex grounds in 2015 where the hosts won 2-1. Nepal went on to win the title beating India in penalty shootout in the final. The first edition was played among U-19 teams in 2015 and the AFC officially changed it to U-18 from this year.

Coach Lopsang was confident of defending the title. He said loss in the opening match against the hosts was an accidental one and that his team was unfortunate. “We faced defeat in the first match which was totally off the plan,” he added. “I think lads had no enough time for training at home and also they could not get exposure through friendly matches. But, now our morale is high after defeating Maldives in the second match,” said Lopsang, who is also the head coach of Manang Marshyangdi Club, one of the most successful domestic teams in Nepal.

“We are in do or die situation. It doesn’t mean we are out of the title race. If we can produce positive results in both the remaining matches we could be the champions. But we have to win each and every match,” the Nepali coach added. “And, our performance is far better than Bangladesh and India. Their dominance over Bhutan and Maldives was not convincing compared to ours,” said Lopsang, who was not in the mood of changing the 4-4-2 formation for the game against Bangladesh.

However, he accepted that his team’s finishing was not strong. “We were weak in front of the goal and I am surprised why the boys have not been able to score, may be because of inadequate training and less match experience. The way we played in the first two matches, we should have win by at least 4-5 goal margins,” he continued. “Anyway our second game was better than the first one and we are improving gradually. We are hoping for even better show against Bangladesh,” he added.

Nepal skipper Arpan Karki was also confident of winning all the remaining matches. “We are re-energised after defeating Maldives. The boys were morally down with the result of first match (against Bhutan). Bangladesh are good in set pieces but we are better in ball possession. The pressure is there but we have to beat Bangladesh as a vital clash against India awaits,” skipper Karki said.

“Now, our aim is to make 30 million Nepali people happy and proud and follow the footsteps of our seniors who had brought joyous moments winning the first edition of the championship,” he added.