The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) will declare 28 players for the closed camp training. Twenty among 48 players except Anil Gurung, will be bade farewell on Monday. Gurung is currently playing in the I-League in India.
“We will name 28 players on Monday,” said team coach Krishna Thapa. Thapa, Maheshwar Mulmi and Upendra Man Singh are conducting training for the team from November 21.
Some new faces will also be called for the closed camp training. “Four to five new players will be selected for the training as we have selected the players on the basis of fitness and performance,” Thapa added.
Nine mid-fielders and defenders each, six forwards and four goalkeepers will be selected for the training. Goalkeepers Bikash Malla, Ritesh Thapa, Kiran Chemjong and Rupak Shrestha have been selected, while forwards Bikarna Shrestha Ganesh Lawati will also get the opportunity to be trained. Other forwards selected are Jumanu Rai, Santosh Sahukhala, Chetan Ghimire and Nirajan Malla. Anil has got a direct entry for the training.
In mid-field, Pradip Maharjan, Raju Tamang, Bijay Gurung, Bishan Gauchan, Nirajan Khadka, Yogesh Shrestha, Deepen Shrestha, Ranjit Shrestha and Bhola Silwal are also in the eyes of coaches.
The defenders include Rakesh Shrestha, Anjan KC, Sagar Thapa, Chun Bahadur Thapa, Sandip Rai, Biraj Maharjan, Rohit Chand, Rabin Shrestha and Nurraj Kafle.
Meanwhile, striker Yugal Kishor Rai has moved out of the country in search of greener pastures. The other noted faces unable to occupy places are Sanjiv Budhathoki, Pravin Karki, Anil Ojha and Bikash Singh Chhetri.
Likewise, Suman Subedi, Roshan Karki, Laxman Ruchal, Subash Rai, Khum Gurung, Santosh Nepali and Bishwa Bairag Samal have a very low chance of earning the coaches´ favor.
Deepak Bhusal, Pukar BK, Shishir Adhikari, Bharat Khawas, Santosh Gurung, Deepak Rai, Dilip Chhetri, Amir Shrestha and Shekhar Limbu will also not be selected for the closed camp. However, there might be a few last moment changes.
Altogether, 20 players will be selected for the final round, stated coach Thapa.
Nepal will play against defending champions Maldives, India and Afghanistan in the group matches of the South Asian Football Federation to be held in Bangladesh from December 5-15.
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