Ministry felicitates triumphant U-19 football team

KATHMANDU, Sept 17: Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) on Thursday felicitated the members of the U-19 national football team with cash prize of Rs 100,000 each. The team was felicitated for winning the title of the First SAFF U-19 Championship held in Kathmandu from August 20 to 29.

Minister for Youth and Sports Purushottam Paudel, Secretary Dipendra Nath Sharma, National Sports Council Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista and All Nepal Football Association President Ganesh Thapa handed over the cash and certificate of appreciation to all 28 members of the team, including 23 players, three coaches, a physiotherapist and a team manager.Skipper and forward Bimal Gharti Magar, goalkeepers Sojit Gurung, Roman Rasaili and Devraj Limbu, defenders Ananta Tamang, Amit Tamang, Tchiring Gurung, Akasha Thapa, Dinesh Rajbanshi, Sudan Thapa, Gaurav Budhathoki and Kamal Shrestha, midfielders Hemanta Thapa Magar, Dona Thapa, Tej Tamang, Kiran Sunar, Bishwas Shrestha, Sussan Lama and Sunil Bal, forwards Anjan Bista, Sujit Gurung, Shiva Subedi and Janom Man Ligal were the 23 players of the team. Similarly, chief coach Bal Gopal Maharjan, coaches Sunil Shrestha and Mrigendra Mishra, physiotherapist Raju Dahal and team manager Diwakar Ghale were also felicitated by the ministry.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Paudel said that the achievement in the SAFF U-19 Championship brought happiness among Nepalis. "We felicitated the team befitting our capacity," said Paudel, adding that he knew about the winning mentality of Nepali team from its first match against Bhutan.

Similarly, MoYS Secretary Sharma said that the achievement of U-19 team has boosted the morale of the country's entire football fraternity and added that players should only focus on their games and leave the rest to the MoYS, NSC, ANFA and the nation.

Likewise, ANFA President Ganesh Thapa said that the result did not come out of the blue. "ANFA did hard work to bring the team to this level and the outcome will inspire other teams as well," said Thapa.

Nepal had defeated Bhutan 3-1 and Bangladesh 2-1 in the group stage of the tournament. Similarly, Nepal overcame Afghanistan 3-2 in the semifinal and got the better of India 5-4 during tiebreaker in final following a 1-1 draw in the regulation time.

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