Kathmandu, March 22:

The national football squad left for Kolkata on Wednesday to play friendly matches as part of the preparation for AFC Challenge Cup Football Tournament scheduled for April 1-16 in Chittagong. President of All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) Ganesh Thapa bade farewell to the squad. Thapa said that he was hopeful Nepal will do better in the tournament since it is an event for the Asian ‘C’ category countries.

“As we have given full authority to the coaches, we will not tolerate or listen to any excuses if the team fails to perform well in Bangladesh,” Thapa said.

Three defenders, Mahendra Police Club’s Rakesh Shreshta and Nabil Three Star Club’s Pralay Rajbhandari and Janak Singh were ruled out for injuries. The coaches called MPC’s Suman Subedi and Tribhuvan Army Club’s Ram Kumar Biswas to fill the spots.

With Sagar Thapa, Lok Bandhu Gurung and Anjan KC in the team, defence should not be a point to worry for Nepal.

Basanta Thapa and Surendra Tamang are set to take the forward position but coach Shyam Thapa was worried of the midfield. “We have good strikers but lack quality playmakers,” he said. According to him, Bijay Gurung, Vishan Gauchan have qualities of a good midfielder but they are not the playmakers. “If the midfield fail to supply good passes, the strikers will be hapless,” he added.

As for most experienced player and skipper Hari Khadka, the coach has different plans. “I will save him for the last 20 minutes as he is the only sensible player in the squad,” he said, adding that his dribbling and speed could baffle any opponent.

Apart from Thapa, Maheshwor Mulmi and Dhruba KC are also looking after the team. Nepal will play at least three friendlies against the likes of East Bengal, Mohammaden Sporting and Mohun Bagan.

Skipper Khadka promised to perform better than they did in the fourth SAFF Championship in Karachi earlier this year. “Our team is not set yet and the friendlies against the tough opponents would be helpful,” said the MPC veteran. Coach Thapa was also hopeful the friendlies would give a solid exposure to the team before the tournament. Nepal is pitted against Bhutan, Brunei and Sri Lanka in Group ‘A’. Nepal will take on Bhutan in the opener on April 2.

SQUAD: Hari Khadka, Bikash Malla, Ritesh Thapa, Surendra Shrestha, Lok Bandhu Gurung, Bijay Gurung, Anjan KC, Rajesh Shahi, Surendra Tamang, Pradip Maharjan, Vishan Gauchan, Ramesh Budhathoki, Suman Subedi, Jumanu Rai, Nabin Neupane, Basanta Thapa, Sagar Thapa, Tashi Tsering, Ram Kumar Biswas, Raju Tamang.