Nepal takes on host Iran today

TEHRAN, March 23: Nepal is all prepared to take on host Iran in its opening match of the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers on Monday. The nine-day event is scheduled to be held in Tehran from March 23-31.

The Group C match between Nepal and Iran will be played at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran at 5 PM (Iranian time).
Group C also consists youth teams from Afghanistan, Palestine and Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan and Palestine will also test their luck on the same day at the PAS Stadium. This is the first occasion that Nepal is facing Iran in U-23 tournament.

However, Nepal head coach Jack Stefanowski is confident of performing well against the host. However, he told that he was not concerned about the outcome of only one match but the whole tournament.  

“There is a big gap between Iran or Saudi Arabia and Nepal. We are not concerned about any particular match but the whole tournament. Our target is to close the gap. We are going to give our best during the whole 90 minutes,” said coach Stefanowski.

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Meanwhile, Iran coach Mohammad Khakpur said that Iran’s aim is to qualify for the next round and will not take Nepal lightly.
“We know that Nepali team plays very disciplined football. We will try our best and play powerfully against Nepal.”

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is holding the qualifiers in ten different nations. And ten group winners and five best second-placed teams from all groups (total 15 teams) will qualify for the final competition to be held in Qatar next year, according to the AFC.

The AFC U-23 Championship 2016 also serves as the Olympics qualifiers. The top three teams from the 2016 edition will represent Asia at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

On the eve of the tournament, training on Sunday was cancelled due to rain. But the teams are training on artificial ground near the stadium.