Nepal´s British coach Graham Roberts however, has said that his side shall play for win against Pakistan and advance into the next stage as the winner of group B. "We will play for win and are all ready for the match," Roberts told Republica over telephone.[break]
The 52-year-old Briton, who had worked as the assistant coach of Pakistan team nearly for three months before his appointment to Nepal, has said that Nepal will play its natural game in aggressive way. "We will play our natural game and the boys are confident of victory."
Nepal is on top of the group B standings with four points followed by Maldives and Pakistan with two points apiece in second and third position. Bangladesh is at the bottom of the table with one point. With a match in hand, each of the four teams has chances of making it into the next stage.
Not only Nepal, even Pakistan will will play for win as it is a do or die match for the Pakistani team and only victory over Nepal will confirm its place for the semifinal stage. A high scoring draw will also be sufficient for Pakistan´s qualification but it needs to depend upon favorable result of another group match to be played between Maldives and Bangladesh.
The victory or the draw over Pakistan will also be a best result for Nepal in SAFF Championship since 1999 as Nepal has never crossed group stage since then.
Meanwhile, goalnepal.com, a football news portal, has quoted Pakistan Coach Zavisa as saying, "The match against Nepal is a do-or-die for us. This is very important for us. It is not sure whether Nepal shall progress or not and that will make the match more interesting.”
Nepal played 1-1 draw against Maldives in its first match on Friday and defeated Bangladesh 1-0 on Sunday. Pakistan played goalless draw against Bangladesh and Maldives on Friday and Sunday respectively.
Looking at the past records, Nepal has upper hand over Pakistan. In its 10 encounter against Pakistan since 1985, Nepal has won five, drawn two and lost three matches. The last time these two teams met during the Fifth SAFF Championship in 2008 and on that occasion Nepal had defeated Pakistan 4-1.
Meanwhile, coach Roberts is also worried about injuries of his three forwards Jumanu Rai, Anil Gurung and Santosh Sahukhala. All of them have got swollen ankle. He will pick two forwards among them on Tuesday morning after consulting with the physician. The coach is also likely to assign midfielder Bharat Khawas attacking job.
Nepal´s probable starting line up
Goalkeeper: Kiran Chemjong
Defenders: Biraj Maharjan, Rohit Chand, Sagar Thapa, Sandip Rai, Rabin Shrestha
Midfielders: Bharat Khawas, Raju Tamang, Bijay Gurung
Forwards: Santosh Sahukhala, Anil Gurung
Past Records
1985 Nepal 2-2 Pakistan 2nd SAF Games
1987 Nepal 0-0 Pakistan Olympic Qualifying
1987 Nepal 1-0 Pakistan Olympic Qualifying
1989 Nepal 0-0 Pakistan 4th SAF Games
1995 Nepal 2-0 Pakistan 2nd SAARC Gold Cup
1997 Nepal 0-2 Pakistan 1st SAFF Chamionship
1999 Nepal 3-1 Pakistan 8th SAFF Games
2007 Nepal 2-1 Pakistan Friendly (Pokhara)
2007 Nepal 0-2 Pakistan Friendly (Pokhara)
2008 Nepal 4-1 Pakistan 5th SAFF Championship
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