KATHMANDU, March 23: Nepal U-23 football team has suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Oman in its first Group A match of the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification in Qatar on Friday. 

At the sporting complex of the Doha Sports City in Doha, a goal from Yousuf Nashr Al-Malki sealed the win for Oman. He scored in the 13th minute in the win and started the qualifying tournament on a high. 

Nepal will now face the host Qatar and Afghanistan on March 24 and 26 respectively, and the ties will be vital to see which team goes through. 

Every group winner including the four best runners-up in the tournament will make it to the finals. However, if the final tournament host Thailand wins its group or is among the four best runners-up, the fifth best runner-up also qualifies for the final tournament. 

There are 11 groups in the tournament with Nepal, Oman, Afghanistan and Qatar in Group A, while the Group B comprises Bahrain, Palestine, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The third group consists of Iran, Iraq, Turkmenistan and Yemen, while Group D has Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lebanon and Maldives. 

Likewise, the Group E has Jordan, Syria, Kyrgyzstan and Kuwait, while Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and India are pitted in Group F as Pakistan withdrew from the tournament. Also, North Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Mongolia are in Group G, while South Korea, Australia, Cambodia and Chinese Taipei are in Group H. 

Similarly, Group I features Japan, Myanmar, Timor Leste and Macau, while China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Laos are in Group J. The last group features Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei. 

Nepal head coach Bal Gopal Maharjan appreciated his team’s performance despite the loss and hailed keeper Arpan Karki for his brilliant shot-stopping displays. 

“I am satisfied with the team’s performance, but we had to lose. We comparatively played well against a strong side. We had opted a defensive strategy, and it worked. We will make necessary strategy after watching Qatar and Afghanistan play,’’ Maharjan said, “Arpan was very good today, it was a good performance.” 

Karki saved five shots from the Oman players. 

Despite dominating the game, Oman could not add more.
 

 
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