Nepal takes Afghanistan today

AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers

TEHRAN, March 25: Nepal will take on South Asian rival Afghanistan on Wednesday in its second match of the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers being held in Tehran, at the Azadi Sports Complex.

The match is scheduled to be played at 18:15 NST.

The match will be vital for both the sides to keep afloat their hope of qualification into next rounds because both the teams were defeated in their first match. Nepal was defeated 5-0 by host Iran in its opener while Afghanistan had gone down 2-0 against Palestine 2-0 on Monday.

So both the teams are looking for a win to grab a realistic chance of remaining in the competition.

"We are all prepared to go and we will go for a win against South Asian rival Afghanistan and we are all prepared for the match," Nepal's coach Jack Stefanowski said after a training camp on Tuesday near the Azadi Sports Complex. Nepal spent nearly two hours at the training.

The American coach of Polish origin however, added that Nepal will be under-pressure against Afghanistan following thumping defeat at the hands of Iran.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan assistant coach Elyas Ahmad Manucher, also said that his side will be under-pressure in must win match against Nepal.

"We watched Nepali team's match against Iran. The youth players were impressive and we will be under pressure since it is must win match for us as well," Elyas said.

Nepali coach Stefanowski, who has eight players from senior team, added that his team will try to come up with better performance against Afghanistan on Wednesday.

According to Elyas the Afghan squad is studded with six players from the national team and the team had four-month long preparation for the qualifiers. "We will try our best against Nepal," he added.

Meanwhile, Bimal Gharti Magar, who was rested due to injury against Iran, is likely start against Afghanistan.

Jersey numbers corrected

Around half dozen of players, whose jersey numbers were different than the number registered at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had their jersey numbers correctly printed as per the AFC record.

Nepal's team manager Rajendra Neupane said that he got the jersey numbers printed in Tehran on Tuesday. "We will play with correct jersey numbers against Afghanistan as per the listing of AFC's record," he said.

Around half dozen players fielded against Iran on Monday were forced to wear jerseys using medical tape after intervention from AFC officials. The AFC officials had directed them to use only jersey numbers registered in AFC list just an hour before the kick-off.

That forced the members of the Team Nepali to use medical tape to hide the numbers and write new ones to the amusement of the spectators.