This year, the police team (now called the Nepal Police Club-- the "Mahendra" was lopped off after the monarchy´s demise) is again preparing to take on the likes of Tazak league winner Regar TadAZ* and other formidable opponents in the AFC Presidents´ cup. The AFC Presidents´ Cup is among the premier football tournaments held for the twelve third-tier footballing nations in Asia, and the tourney features the league winners of these countries. Three Star Club represented Nepal In the cup´s first edition, while Manang Marsyangdi Club (MMC) got the opportunity in 2006. Since 2007, it´s been Nepal Police all the way.
To say that the Nepal Police have been on a lucky streak would be an understatement. They last won the Nepali league in 2006, but that win guaranteed them a free pass to the AFC President´s cup for three consecutive years. It´s not as if they plotted and schemed to ensure their way to the cup, though. The fault mostly lies with the Fates, or more specifically, with the two warring football bodies in Nepal-- the ANFA and NFA. For two years after their 2006 win, the policemen were sent to the tournament because for those two years, thanks to the domestic football row in Nepal, no league matches were held in the country.
But the Fates, as everyone knows, work in strange ways. The same cause-- the absence of the league-- that allowed the policemen to find their way into the AFC President´s Cup also led to a drop in the team´s abilities. According to the Nepal Police coach Birat Shrestha, the team could have used league games to further hone the players´ skills, by playing against the best players in the country; the coach also says that the police team´s consecutive appearances on the strength of one league title have also served to place unsought-for pressure on his players.
"But make no mistake," says Shrestha. "I believe we are still the best team in Nepal, and we can prove it at the appropriate forum."
He has a point. The Nepal Police have a long list of achievements to boast of this year. So far, the police have won the Aha Gold Cup in Pokhara and the Martyr´s Memorial Gold Cup in Jhapa. And a whittled -down version of the team were runners up in the 7-a-side tournament held last month. Some of the team members have also represented Nepal at the first Prime Minister´s Cup tournament held in Kathmandu. And as for the team´s controversial appearances in the earlier editions of the AFC President´s cup? The results have been pretty solid: in 2007, they were runners up, and in 2008, they reached the semi finals.
But all those outings by the team have also left the team´s top players vulnerable to injuries. According to coach Birat Shrestha, the police team fields its first-string side in all its matches, and that´s a recipe for upping the number of injuries any team sees. There are doubts today over the match fitness of Chetan Ghimire, Dipen Shrestha, Jumanu Rai, and national-team skipper Rakesh Shrestha. Chetan is hobbling through a muscle sprain he suffered during the 7-a-side tournament; Dipen has also been struck by a muscle sprain; Jumanu is still recovering from a chest injury that he picked up during the Prime Minister´s Cup; and Rakesh is yet to get up to match-fitness levels after he injured his left leg in the same tournament.
With all these injuries and with the psychological burden-- of being viewed as a team that has ridden their luck longer than they actually deserved to -- the team should in all probability be disheartened about their chances at this year´s AFC President´s Cup. But try telling that to the policemen.
Jumanu Rai is upbeat about his team´s chances because the policemen are now more familiar with the opponents than they were earlier, and the team have modified their training to best prepare for the specific opponents they will encounter in this year´s qualifiers: on the 14th of this month, the Nepal Police Club will take on Taiwan Power Company (Chinese Taipei); on the 16th, they will face WAPDA (Pakistan); and on the 18th, they will play Regar TadAZ (Tazakistan). Captain Ananta Thapa too is confident that the team will do well, especially given the wealth of talent they have at midfield. Now, if the policemen can only bring home the cup, they will finally be able to silence their detractors once and for all. After all, even the Fates cannot see through an injured, worn-out squad to such glory.
* (Corrected)
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