Striker Anil Gurung scored a brace and Tek Bahadur Budhathoki added another to seal Nepal´s third win in as many matches in Kuwait and fourth in five matches of the Gulf tour.
The Nepali team had left for its two-nation Gulf tour on August 4 to prepare for the SAFF Championship set to begin in Kathmandu on Saturday. Nepal played two friendly matches during its 11-day tour of Bahrain. In the first friendly Nepal lost 3-0 to Bahrain´s U-23 team, while it beat local club East Riffa 1-0 in the second.
Gurung had scored the only goal for Nepal in its win over East Riffa. He had also scored a goal in Nepal´s 2-0 win over Kuwait´s U-20 team during the first friendly match in Kuwait. [break]
On Saturday, Gurung scored in a pass from left back Sabindra Shrestha to put Nepal ahead in the 20th minute. Budhathoki doubled the tally four minutes into the second half utilizing a cross from Jagjeet Shrestha. Gurung scored his second and Nepal´s third during the later stages after he was set up by U-16 forward Bimal Gharti Magar.
In the five matches played in Bahrain and Kuwait, Nepal scored 14 goals and conceded five. Gurung was the top scorer for Nepal with four goals while Gharti Magar scored three goals. Gharti Magar had scored a hat-trick in Nepal´s 8-0 win over Al-Arabi SC of Kuwait. Santosh Sahukhala and Budhathoki scored two goals each while Nirajan Khadka and Bijay Gurung scored one each.
The 28-member Nepali national team, including 24 players, arrived home on Sunday evening. Nepal´s Polish coach Jack Stefanowski tested all players of the squad during the tour. Forward Bharat Khawas, named in the list of 25 players, could not join the team in the Gulf as he is undergoing the Nepal Army´s second lieutenant training. He is expected to join the team on Monday. The final squad will comprise 20 players.
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