British coach Roberts had requested All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) for international friendly matches and foreign training for a more confident and better results in the SAFF Championship.[break]
Nepal will play friendly matches with the national and U-23 teams (Olympic teams) of Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand during the tour. The national team will also play some friendly matches with local clubs of Malaysia and Thailand. The team will undergo training from October 16-24 in Malaysia.
"The friendly matches and foreign training will be helpful in gaining experience and will improve team works," Roberts said to the Republica on Tuesday. "Besides this, we can also know our weaknesses and strengths."
"The tour will also contribute in making the team cent percent fit both physically and mentally for the SAFF Championship. We are looking to win every match and improvement in performance in every other match we play," Roberts said.
The 23-member national team consisting of coach Graham Roberts and assistant coach Upendra Man Singh left for the Philippines on Saturday. ANFA President Ganesh Thapa, Vice-president Lalit Krishna Shrestha, General Secretary Dhirendra Pradhan, National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Yubaraj Lama among other bade farewell to the team.
Nepali team will play its first friendly against Philippines national team on Tuesday. It will leave for Malaysia on October 13 and play a friendly against the Olympic team (U-23) of Malaysia on October 15. It will undergo a close camp training until October 24 in Malaysia. The national team will also play two more matches with local clubs and other teams of Malaysia during its stay.
The Nepali team will leave for Cambodia on October 25 and play a friendly against the Olympic team of Cambodia three days later.
On October 31, Nepal will play against Olympic team (U-23) of Thailand and against national team on November 3. Nepali team will also play some friendly matches with local teams in Thailand.
Speaking at the farewell program, ANFA President Thapa said the national team is leaving for this kind of friendly tour for the first time.
"We were indulging in other problems in the past," Thapa said, hinting at disputes within ANFA in the past. "But now we don´t have such problems and we are fully committed to the development of football in the country. The tour will be helpful for SAFF as well as AFC Challenge Cup."
NSC Member Secretary Lama conveyed his greetings and best wishes for the success of the team. "I hope Nepal maintains the same spirit with which it played with Jordan at the Dasharath Stadium during World Cup Qualifiers."
SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Kiran Chemjong, Bikash Malla, Ritesh Thapa
Defenders: Bikash Singh Chhetri, Biraj Maharjan, Deepak Bhusal, Rabin Shrestha, Rohit Chand, Sagar Thapa (C), Sandip Rai
Midfielders: Anil Ojha, Bharat Khawas, Jagjeet Shrestha, Nirajan Khadka, Sujal Shrestha, Bhola Silwal, Ramesh Katwal
Forwards: Anil Gurung, Jumanu Rai, Ganesh Lawati, Santosh Sahukhala
Ganesh Thapa misbehaves with photojournalists
ANFA President Ganesh Thapa misbehaved and barred photojournalists from taking group photo of the national team after its farewell on Saturday.
Photojournalists including Dipesh Shrestha of Nepal Republic Media, Nimesh Jung Rai of APCA House and Bijay Neupane of Kantipur Publications had requested for a group photo of only the national team and the coaches.
"But ANFA president Thapa did not allow us to take the group photos of the national squad," said Dipesh Shrestha, a photojournalist with Nepal Republic Media Private Limited.
This is not the first time that Thapa barred photojournalists from taking group photos of the squad consisting of only national team members.
Thapa had also denied photojournalists of taking a group photo of the national team a couple of months ago ahead of their departure to Jordan for the first leg match of the World Cup Qualifiers.
NEPAI TEAM´S FIXTURES
Date Opponent
Oct 11 Philippines
Oct 15 Malaysia (U-23)
Oct 28 Cambodia (U-23)
Oct 31 Thailand (U-23)
Nov 3 Thailand
(Date for some friendly matches against Thai and Malaysian clubs to be fixed later)