Kathmandu, November 14

Nepal are confident of winning the AFC Solidarity Cup when they face Macau in the final of the tournament at the Sarawak Stadium in Kuching, Malaysia on Tuesday.

Nepal made it to the final riding on Kiran Kumar Limbu’s heroics after the goalAkeeper made two brilliant saves in penalty shootout against Laos in the semi-final match on Saturday.

Macau defeated Brunei Darussalam 4-3 on penalties in another semi-final the same day.

Nepal head coach Gyotoki Koji was optimistic of keeping the winning momentum and win the maiden title of the competition. “It is a good opportunity for us to be the champions.

This is the first AFC Solidarity Cup and we want to be the first champions,” said the Japanese coach. “We do not have injury problems in the team but the players are tired as we did not have a single match for five months before coming into the competition,” said Koji.

“The players are highly motivated and we want to go back to Nepal as champions,” he added.

However, coach Koji was not in mood to underestimate the opponents.

“I don’t think it will be easy but we do have a chance to win. We need to check their striker Nicholas Mario Torrao, who is a key player in their team. He is a dangerous player with good height and the

defenders need to play really well,” Koji said.

Both Nepal and Macau are unbeaten so far in the tournament. Nepal played a goalless draw against Timor Leste before defeating Brunei 3-0 in the group stage and beating Laos 3-0 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the semis.

Similarly, Macau beat Mongolia 2-1, thrashed Laos 4-1 and played a 1-1 draw against Sri Lanka in group stage. In semis, they registered a 4-3 victory over Brunie on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

In Head-to-Head record, Nepal are ahead of Macau with three wins, one draw and one loss. They have played four times in FIFA World Cup qualifiers and an international friendly once.

But the two teams are meeting for the first time in eight years, since Nepal’s 3-2 win in 2008.

Macau coach Tam Iao San said his side would fight until the last moment to lift the title. “Nepal is a strong and balance team.

But that does not mean we are not good. Both of us want to lift the trophy but I have asked my players not to take too much pressure,” he said.

“I have asked them to keep faith in themselves till the final whistle as they did against Brunei in the semi-final match,” said San, whose team had the highest target of reaching the semis.

“Winning against Brunei was as a bonus for us.”