For the football fans and analysts, the long awaited glory is the outcome of hard work and great effort. "It is the result of hard work as well as great team effort," says Dhruba KC, who had played an important role as assistant coach during Goa SAFF in 1999 when Nepal had reached semifinal for the last time.[break]
KC, who watched Nepal´s group stage matches against Maldives and Bangladesh in television, rated Nepal as the best team of the tournament.
"Nepal was dominant against Maldives and Bangladesh. Nepal dominated the ball possession and I think the ball possession against Maldives was 70/30 and 60/40 against Bangladesh. I missed Pakistan match due to my personal reasons," KC told Republica.
"Nepal has really put up an impressive show by holding ball possessions, passing and seizing from opponents. However, the striking line seems too weak, as the forwards have not been able to utilize numerous scoring chances. But such things happen in football,” said KC.
According to KC, the goal conceded by Nepal against Maldives was custodian´s error of judgment, as he was not in his proper position.
"In totality, Nepal is putting up an impressive performance compared to other team. The boys are really spirited and putting up their full efforts ," said KC.
Remembering the 1999 Goa SAFF, KC also laments of then team manager Lok Bahadur Shahi´s pressure on the team, which according to KC was the reason for his team´s exit from semifinal.
"Though we have already secured semifinal place before playing last group match against Maldives we fielded full strength team following pressure from Shahi and three players picked injuries. Our key player Sukra Tamang was forced out of the semifinal against Bangladesh and two other key players including Sukra Tamang and skipper Dipak Amatya picked injuries and failed to perform up to their potential," said KC.
Football analyst and All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) development director Sanjiv Mishra also see some similarities between the 1999 semifinalist team and the current team. "In Goa SAFF Championship some established faces like Mani Shah and Basanta Gurung´s generation were replaced by new generation players like Basnata Thapa, Sukra Tamang, Samir Namekul"
"Similarly, the current team has also replaced some well known names of Nepali football like Rakesh Shrestha, Anjan KC and Bishan Gauchan. Besides this, pace of coordination and pace of team is also excellent."
Mishra expressed his optimism and said that the young blood in the team could lead Nepal to winning the maiden SAFF trophy.
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