Lalitpur, March 13

Nepal national team coach Gyotuki Koji today called up preliminary squad of 44 players for the friendly match against Malaysia U-22 team.

The Japanese coach, who took over the helm of Nepali football earlier this month, will finalise the 23-member team later for the friendly match slated for March 27 in Kuala Lumpur. According to the ANFA, Koji called up all the players who represented Nepal in the SAFF Championship, Bangabandhu Gold Cup and 12th South Asian Games along with a couple of other footballers he picked from the recently-concluded Simara Gold Cup.

The training will begin from Tuesday at the ANFA Complex. Anil Gurung, Nawayug Shrestha, Bimal Gharti Magar, Ranjan Bista, Suman Lama, Karna Limbu, Bishwas Shrestha and Bharat Khawas are the eight forwards called in the camp, while Rabin Shrestha, Biraj Maharjan, Ananta Tamang, Aditya Chaudhary, Jitendra Karki, Ranjit Dhimal, Kamal Shrestha, Man Bahadur Tamang, Devendra Tamang, Bijay Dhimal, Ajit Bhandari and Dinesh Rajbanshi are the defenders.

Likewise, Jagajeet Shrestha, Bishal Rai, Anjan Bista, Heman Gurung, Bikram Lama, Yogesh Gurung, Nabin Lama, Rohit Chand, Jangbu Sherpa, Prakash Budhathoki, Sunil Bal, Tej Tamang, Tanka Basnet, Rajendra Rawal, Shyam Nepali, Sushil KC, Sujal Shrestha, Rupesh KC and Shiva

Shrestha are the midfielders, while Bikesh Kuthu, Kiran Kumar Limbu, Amrit Kumar Chaudhary, Alan Neupane and Bishal Shrestha are the goalkeepers. Koji has also called up Rohit Chand, Ananta Tamang, Bimal Gharti Magar and Anjan Bista but they will not be available for the match because of international commitments and injury.