The Nepali national team had arrived in Kuwait after playing two friendly matches in Bahrain as part of preparations for the Eighth SAFF Championship to be held in Kathmandu from August 31 to September 11. On Saturday, Nepal had defeated the U-20 team of Kuwait 2-0.
Nepal´s coach Jack Stefanowski had also fielded his second-string team to test all his players. Besides Gharti Magar and Sahukhala, Nirajan Khadka, Bijay Gurung and Tek Bahadur Budhathoki were also on the scoresheet on Sunday. [break]
MMC custodian Bishal Shrestha made his national team debut replacing regular custodian Kiran Chemjong in Sunday´s friendly. Rohit Chand, who joined the national team´s camp on Sunday, partnered with Ananta Tamang, Bijay Dhimal, Sabindra Shrestha and Bikram Lama as defenders. Chand plays professional football from Indonesia´s top-tier team Persija Jakarta.
Bikram Lama, Tek Bahadur Budhathoki, Nirajan Khadka and Bijay Gurung were the midfielders of the Nepali team while Santosh Sahukhala was paired in attack with Gharti Magar. Along with Gharti Magar, defender Ananta Tamang is also a member of the U-16 national team. Tek Bahadur Budhathoki of Army was also included in the national team´s starting line-up for the first time.
Bijay Gurung took charge as captain as regular captain Sagar Thapa was rested. Winger Prakash Budhathoki replaced Tek Bahadur in the second half.
Referring to coach Stefanowski, ANFA Vice-president and leader of the Nepali team Lalit Krishna Shrestha said the tour has been successful in testing the abilities and weaknesses of the players.
"We tested almost all the players in the training and practice session during the tour," Shrestha said, "The friendly matches were aimed at exploring the weaknesses of players and improving them. Now we wish to give continuity to our winning streak in the SAFF Championship as well."
Nepal´s technical director Krishna Thapa said Nepal achieved a comfortable win as the opponent came without preparation for the friendly. "Though the opponents were a good side, they did not prepare for the match as they were on holiday," Thapa said, claiming that the Nepali side had improved a lot during the Gulf tour.
Thapa was also of the view that the Gulf tour had tremendously increased the endurance and strength of the Nepali team. According to Thapa, early goals in the match resulted in Nepal´s big win.
Nepal had reached Kuwait a week ago after spending 11 days in Bahrain. The Nepali team had lost 3-0 against Bahrain U-23 and defeated local club East Riffa 1-0 during the Bahrain tour.
The Nepali team is scheduled to play another match against Fahaheel Sports Club of Kuwait before returning home on August 25, six days before the kick-off of the Eight SAFF Championship.
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