Three coaches of the team - - Krishna Thapa, Maheshwar Mulmi and Upendra Man Singh -- are planning to pick only two goalkeepers from among four. According to an ANFA source, Nepal Army´s Bikash Malla and Nepal Police Club´s Ritesh Thapa will be in the team while Kiran Chemjong and Rupesh Shrestha will be excluded.
Friends Club´s Nurraj Kafle and NPC´s Robin Shrestha are the defenders who are almost missing the Dhaka tour, the source said. Captain Rakesh Shrestha is almost sure to lead the defense line along with Sagar Thapa, Biraj Maharjan, Anjan KC, Sandeep Rai, Chun Bhadur Thapa and Rohit Chand.
Nabil Three Star´s Vishad Gauchan and NPC´s Dipen Shrestha have slim chances of qualifying for the final 20. Bijay Gurung, Pradeep Maharjan, Raju Tamang, Ranjit Shrestha, Yogesh Shrestha, Bhola Nath Silwal and Nirajan Khadka are in coaches´ list of selection, the source claimed.
Nepali forward line will see Anil Gurung, Jumanu Rai, Santosh Sahukhala and Chetan Ghimire. Injured striker Nirajan Malla seems almost certain to lose the berth in the national squad. Ganesh Lawati and Bikarna Shretha are not in coaches´ choice this time around. However, there might be last minute changes in the list, the source said.
24 women footballers in 3rd phase training
KATHMANDU, Nov 22: The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) has named 24 women footballers for the third phase training from among 30 players. The women footballers are undergoing training for the 11the South Asian Games to be held in Dhaka from January 29-February 9.
The selected players are Asmita Khawas, Bina Sharma, Namita Dali, Sapana Lama, Bhagawati Thapa, Manamaya Magar, Deepa Chhetri, Tulasa Singh, Usha Bhandari, Sajana Bhandari, NIru Thapa, Tej Gurung, Laxmi Paudel, Nisha Dewan, Mira Maharjan, Pramila Rai, Kabita Dhimal, Anu Lama, Jamuna Gurung, Chandra Bhandari, Deepa Adhikari, Binita Shrestha, Ranjana Suruchi and Ganga Gurung. Among them, 15 players are from the APF Sports Club.
Coach Dhruba KC and assistant coach Paras Chaudhary are training the squad.
Friendly matches in Kolkata
KATHMANDU, Nov 22: Nepali football team, which is preparing for the Sixth SAFF Championship, is all set to play friendly matches in the Indian city Kolkata.
They will head to Kolkata on Thursday and play two friendly matches on Saturday and next Monday. However, the opponents are still to be fixed.
According to All Nepal Football Association´s CEO Indraman Tuladhar, Nepali team is visiting Kolkata after former coach Shyam Thapa arranged for the practice matches.
As the team is heading to the Indian city, ANFA will announce the last 20 members of the Nepali squad on Monday. ANFA will pick 20 players from among the 29 training currently.
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