Coaches Raju Shakya and Kishor KC have been working together with the team to prepare for the tournament since August 11.´Our primary aim is to build a good team and produce players for the national team,´ said Raju Kaji Shakya after the completion of the training camp at Chyasal ground, Lalitpur on Sunday. ´National team should not always depend on a handful of old faces; new talents must replace them.´ [break]
Nepal is placed alongside Uzbekistan, Qatar, India and Turkmenistan in Group A for the qualifiers. Teams finishing in the top two positions will advance to the finals. Shakya and his mate KC, however, do not seem concerned about the results not because they fear the worst, but because they want to be in the league of top football countries.
´None of the top football countries looks for results in youth level football. They are all concerned about producing talented players. We hope some players in this squad make it to the national team,´ said Shakya.
´We want to see them playing good football but if we win and qualify that would be a bonus,´ Shakya said. Currently 30 players are undergoing training for the national team though more than 40 were shortlisted.
Coaches gave more priority to height, good physique and experience in the domestic A division league during selection. Among the total players, 12 were called up for the training after a nationwide open selection conducted by ANFA"s technical director Krishna Thapa and coach Bal Gopal Maharjan, among others.
Among the 30 players undergoing training, 15 are products of ANFA Academy and already have A division club football experience and six have A division experience while nine do not have any experience in top-tier football.
Five of the 30 players are goalkeepers, nine are defenders, 11 are midfielders and five are forwards.
´This is a new team. The most important thing is to develop an understanding between them,´ Shakya said.
The players selected through open selection are housed at a hotel in Gwarko, ANFA Academy players at the hostel of ANFA, Satdobato, while other players of Kathmandu are staying in their respective homes.
The team is focusing on the SAFF Championship that begins on Saturday. All the players will be kept in a closed camp once the SAFF Championship concludes, said Shakya. According to team manager Rajendra Neupane, ANFA has been paying for the accommodation of players from outside Kathmandu.
Goalkeepers: Birendra Chand, Allan Neupane, Brijesh Singh, Kishor Giri, Bikash Shrestha
Defenders: Bivek Pratap Pant, Bivek Basnet, Niraj Basnet, Aditya Chaudhary, Sagar Lama, Sanjay Rajbahak, Aallig Tamang , Kalu Thapa Magar, Umid Acharya
Midfielders: Sulav Maskey, Hemanta Gurung, Rabi Paswan, Munna Chaudhary, Suman Lama, Anil Gurung, Bhushan Subba, Bishwas Shrestha, Biplav Shah, Rishi Thapa Magar, Drona Thapa
Forwards: Asim Jung Karki, Ram Thapa, Dhiroj Tamang, Amar Dangol, Janak Chaudhary
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