Among the 25 international matches it has played over the past 17 years, Nepal has won 11 and lost 14 matches. Nepali team that remained winless for the first 14 years, has made a strong presence in the South Asian level in the last three years. [break]Nepali women have played three tournaments in the South Asian level in the past three years and finished runner-up on all occasions losing to India in the final.
The friendly against Kuwait, considered a weaker side against the likes of Nepal, will be historic as this will be the Nepali women´s team´s first official international friendly match.
Nepal will be aiming to make the historic friendly a memorable one. The team will be without its regular skipper and key player Jamuna Gurung, who has been sidelined for at least three months after she picked knee injury during the First Women´s National League some three weeks ago in Dhangadhi, Kailali.
Nepal´s coach Kumar Katwal has planned to field Chandra Bhandari, the Nepal Police Club forward who was declared the best player in the National League, in Gurung´s place. Coach Katuwal is also confident that Gurung´s absence won´t affect the team´s performance.
The last time Kuwait played an international match was against the Maldives, another South Asian country, in November 2012. Kuwait had played a 1-1 draw in the first and lost the second 1-3 in the two-match friendly series then.
Nepal´s last international match was during the 2nd SAFF Championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka in September 2012. On the occasion, Nepal had defeated the Maldives 5-0 in a group stage match. During the championship, Nepal had won four matches and lost the final 3-1 against India.
Coach Katwal is also confident of a well-coordinated show as the team includes all the members of the last SAFF squad. The Nepali team is likely to come up in a 4-4-2 formation.
Newly-appointed captain Bhandari said the team has taken the match seriously. "We are ready for the match and it could be a turning point in my playing career," said Bhandari, who will mark her debut as the national team´s skipper.
"Our team is balanced and I hope the result will be in our favor. As we have always beaten the Maldives I think we could easily beat Kuwait as well," said coach Katwal, who is assisted by Santosh Baniya in his coaching job.
Meanwhile, Kuwait coach Ahamat Rafi said he has taken the match against Nepal lightly. "Nepal is one of the best team of South Asia. Nepal has defeated the Maldives, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and others. Therefore, we will adopt defensive strategy," shared Rafi.
Nepal´s starting line-up
Goalkeeper: Namita Dali
Defenders: Bhagawati Thapa, Usha Bhandari, Tulasa Singh, Dhim Kumari Magar
Midfielders: Laxmi Paudel, Sajana Rana, Deepa Adhikari, Pramila Rai
Forwards: Chandra Bhandari, Anu Lama
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