KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 2
Nepal national football team head coach Abdullah Almutairi has set his sights on the improvement of his side's FIFA rankings.
Nepal are currently ranked 20th and languish in the fourth pot of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, but Almutairi hoped to move into the third pot ahead of the draw slated for February next year. "Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia will participate in the SAFF Championship in December and we can improve our ranking from the matches in November and January next year. We have chances of moving into pot three," said Almutairi in a note during a press meet on Tuesday.
Almutairi, who has signed a new three-year contract starting from January next year with the All Nepal Football Association, has set a target of improvement in ranking to boost the national team's chances for the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. "The target from the third round of Asian Cup 2023 is to improve our position in FIFA Ranking and to boost our chances in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers," added the Kuwaiti.
The AFC Coaching Instructor and Pro License holder, Almutairi took over the Nepal national team in April and guided the side to historic final of the SAFF Championship in Maldives last month. Nepal, who had made it to the first finals of the regional tournament in 28 years, faced a 3-0 defeat at the hands of India in the championship match.
Under Almutairi, Nepal national team played a total of 11 matches in seven months winning three games - one in World Cup Qualifiers and two in SAFF Championship - apart from two draws and six defeats.
Almutairi was sent to Nepal by Qatar FA following the request of ANFA in March under the agreement of the two parties to help in the development of the game in 2018. The new agreement ended the clouds over his return to Nepal as the coach had made contrasting statements through social media platforms. "It is the love and support of the fans and players that brought me here again," said Almutairi, who had announced the SAFF Championship final against India would be his last match and that he would never return to Nepal.
He announced his resignation through social media platform in July accusing ANFA Senior Vice-president Pankaj Nembang of not letting him work independently and he was also involved with a controversy with two journalists. The ANFA had to request the Ministry of Youth and Sports to launch a probe and the National Sports Council-formed committee instructed the ANFA to caution the coach regarding the use of social media.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 3, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
