Kathmandu, March 25:

Nepal will take on Palestine in the opening match of the AFC Challenge Cup Group ‘C’ qualifying tournament here at the Dasharath Stadium tomorrow.

The hosts would look to repeat the success they had in the previous edition in Cambodia. But it would be tough for them to repeat the success considering the opponents they are drawn against this time around. Nepal qualified for the 2008 finals in India after defeating Macau 3-2 and Cambodia 1-0 in the qualifiers. Nepal’s best run in the event was in the first edition (2006, Bangladesh) where they made it to the semi-finals.

Nepal have the advantage of playing on home turf and amidst their supporters but

undermining Palestine would be fatal for the hosts. The standard of the Palestinian team can be assessed by the fact that four players from the current team play in Jordan, Chile and Kuwait.

“I think they (Nepal) have a chance as they will be playing in front of their home crowd,”

said Palestine’s coach Izzat Hamza. Palestine, who opted out of the tournament in 2008, have have been preparing long for the event, informed the coach. “We are here as part of the fourth phase of our preparation,” said the coach. Hamza said that his team’s early arrive here was to acclimatise with the weather here.

Apart from training in Palestine, the team also visited Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, informed the coach who has been looking after the team since 1998. It would be the first meeting between the two sides since the Olympic qualifiers (U-23) in 2003.

Nepal’s confidence would be high after their PM Cup Invitational Tournament triumph. “We had a good international exposure ahead of the tournament and hope our boys will perform well,” said former national captain and assistant coach Upendra Man Shrestha. “Players’ morale is really high after the PM Cup win”, said Shrestha. Shrestha said that since they are unaware of their opponents’ (Palestine) game, they will decide their game plan after watching their game in the first few minutes.

Nepali team captain Rakesh Shrestha said that they are not underestimating Palestine on the basis of their FIFA ranking. “ Nepal has been listed at 172 in the FIFA rankings, two spot better than Palestine and 17 spot below Kyrgyzstan but the rankings gives little hint on the strength of a team.

Nepal have few injury scares ahead of their match against Palestine. Defenders Anjan KC and Biraj Maharjan along with midfielder Sanjeev Rai and striker Ju Manu Rai are nursing their injuries and are yet to pass fitness tests. “Hopefully they will be fit by tomorrow,” said assistant coach Shrestha. Influential midfielder Pradeep Maharjan, striker Nirajan Khadka and defender Lok Bandhu Gurung have been already been excluded from the team due to injuries.

AFC has divided 16 teams into four groups with winners from each of the groups to qualify for the eight-team finals. The best runners up among the remaining 12 teams will also make it to the finals. Defending champions India, Tajikistan and DPR Korea have directly been drawn into the finals.