Kathmandu, October 23:

The Nepali youth team lost its second match at the AFC U-16 Championship qualifying tournament in Iran on Tuesday.

Nepal — who lost to Bahrain 2-3 and beat Jordon 3-1 in previous matches — lost 2-3 to Kuwait on Tuesday. Nepal will play hosts Iran in the last match on October 27.

Skipper Nirajan Malla levelled the scores at 1-1 in the 18th minute after Alae had put Kuwait ahead in the ninth minute. Abdulla gave Kuwait the lead in the 53rd minute, while Saraf made it 3-1 four minutes later. Sujal Shrestha reduced the margin to 3-2 in the 66th.

Meanwhile, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) disqualified the Under-19 teams of Afghanistan, Timor Leste and Palestine from the AFC U-19 Championship 2007 qualification competition to be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from November 6-17.

The Group D will now comprise Nepal, Jordan, Uzbekistan and Yemen and while Timor Leste’s disqualification leaves Group F with China, Korea, Malaysia, Macau and Singapore.

Oman team arrives

KATHMANDU: The national football team of Oman arrived here on Tuesday to play the 2010 FIFA World Cup Asia Zone qualifying second leg match against Nepal on October 28. Nepal lost 0-2 in the first leg match held in Mascot on October 8. All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) vice president and spokesperson Lalit Krishna Shrestha, who is also the chairman of the organising committee of the match, welcomed the players and officials at the Tribhuvan International Airport. — HNS