Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 31:

The Nepali Under-13 squad today left for Bangladesh to take part in the AFC Festival of Football to be held in Dhaka from April 1-7. ANFA president Ganesh Thapa bade farewell to the players and other team members. Speaking on the occasion, Thapa asked players to be disciplined on and off the field. “Keep your focus on discipline and the game,” said Thapa.

“We have a lot of expectations from you (team), so all of you need to perform well in the tournament,” he said. “Playing well alone does not pay, so you have to concentrate on winning the tournament,” Thapa said. Nirajan Malla is leading the national team in the week-long tournament, which is being organised by Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The squad was selected from the U-13 League, in which Malla scored 18 goals for Friends Club, who finished runner-up to MMC.

“You are lucky to get an opportunity to represent the country at such a young age. You have a big responsibility. So you should keep in mind that you are playing for the country,” said Thapa. Nepal is in Group C of the Central and South Asian region, along with Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and two teams of Bangladesh. AFC had organised festival for the Under-14 boys for the last two years. But the football’s governing body in Asia decided to hold Under-13 Festival, so that the players could play U-13 to U-16 tournaments regularly which AFC feels will build strong national teams.

Nepal won both the previous U-14 tournaments, and this time they are scheduled to open their campaign with a match against Bangladesh ‘B’ team on April 2. “We hope for good results, as all the boys are mentally, physically and tactically match fit,” said coach Kishor KC before the team’s departure. SQUAD: Nirajan Malla (captain), Naresh Pokhrel, Ganesh Khadka, Shiva Shrestha, Satish Bhandari, Rabin Thapa, Jagjit Shrestha, Rabi Thapa, Badal Ghising, Sabindra Shrestha, Ram Krishna GC, Raju Mandal, Karfu Rasaili, Kushal Bhijel, Bijay Gurung, Roshan Raut, Nabin Maharjan (goalkeeper) and Bishal Shrestha (sub-goalkeeper); Kishor KC and Siddhi Byanjankar (coaches); Rabindra Man Shrestha (manager).