Himalayan News Service

Lalitpur, March 23:

Nirajan Malla will lead the Nepali Under-13 football team in the upcoming AFC Festival of Football to be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from April 1-7. The event is being organised by Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The squad had been picked earlier but the name of the skipper was announced today. ANFA gave the top job to Malla, who scored 18 goals for Friends Club in the recently concluded Nepal Bank Junior League Football Tournament, which Manang Marsyangdi Club won beating Friends in final. Nepal, placed in Group C in the Central and South Asian region, along with Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and two teams of Bangladesh, is scheduled to play its first match against Bangladesh B team on April 2.

A seven-member selection committee had initially selected 25 from about 500 players from across the country which was later brought down to 18.

Meanwhile, ANFA said coaches Mrigendra Mishra and Pushpa KC left for Bangladesh to take part in the AFC Division ‘C’ Licence Coaching Course to be held there from March 23-April 7.

SQUAD: Nirajan Malla (captain), Ganesh Khadka, Shiva Shrestha, Satish Bhandari, Rabin Thapa, Jagjit Shrestha, Rabi Thapa, Badal Ghising, Sabindra Shrestha, Naresh Pokharel, Ram Krishna GC, Raju Mandal, Karfu Rasaili, Kushal Bhijel, Bijay Gurung, Roshan Raut, Nabin Maharjan (gk) and Bishal Shrestha (substitute goalkeeper).