Nawayug Shrestha, the 26-year-old striker of Nepali national team, has a bit of Lionel Messi about him. Shrestha's winning goal in the football final of the 12th South Asian Games in India on Monday is the perfect example of his uncanny, Messi-like ability to be at the right place at the right time in the D-box. Anjan Bista floated in the perfect pass from the left flank which Shrestha coolly slotted into an empty net with his one-touch finish. This unique ability has allowed him to score three hat-tricks for Nepal in less than two months. Perhaps it's unfair to compare the best footballer on the planet (and maybe the best ever) with someone who is yet to prove himself even on the Asian stage. Indeed, Shrestha would do well to be half as good as Messi on the football field. So perhaps a better comparison may be regarding the impact these two gifted players have on the national psyche of the countries they represent. Argentineans might be feeling the pinch of a prolonged economic slump: wages have been stagnant for years even while inflation last year reached a troubling 25 percent.Nonetheless they forget all their woes when they watch Messi in action, scoring copious goals for Barcelona, his adopted club, or even better, bamboozling opposition defenses playing for his country. Nepalis, who have had a wretched time of late, have similarly come to expect great things of Shrestha when he puts on the crimson Nepali jersey—and he has not disappointed them. His tendency to perform on the big stage hints of a great future; after Bimal Gharti Magar's flirtation with the Belgian club Anderlecht, no one should be surprised if Shrestha soon gets a call to play for one of the noted European clubs. This does not, however, mean that team Nepal's twin triumphs—first at the Bangabandhu Cup in Bangladesh, where they beat Bahrain 3-0 in the final; quickly followed by success at the 13th SAG Games in India—were one-man shows. Far from it. The most encouraging thing about the recent success of this Under-23 Nepali football team is the collective spirit with which they play, which is there for everyone to see. Coach Raju Shakya also deserves credit, as the two-time SAG football winner as a player has now in his new role been able to fashion a close-knit unit that always seems to play with a clear purpose.
These have again been extremely difficult times for Nepalis, as they have been first-hand witness to two of biggest national tragedies in quick succession: first the devastating earthquakes and more recently the Indian economic blockade. They needed a respite, something good to happen to lift their jaded spirits. The recent success of the Nepali football team, in this context, has been manna from heaven. It will also go a long way towards restoring the confidence of Nepali football fans who were so disappointed to learn that our national players had accepted money to throw away matches. Many of these disgraced players are now in jail—where they rightly belong. The youth team has shown what is possible if the Nepali team plays in good faith and with a clear mission. Perhaps there is also something to learn from for our rather querulous political leaders whose disunity is largely responsible for the mess that the country now finds itself in.
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