KATHMANDU, Aug 6: Nepali youth team on Thursday left for Bangladesh to compete in the third edition of the men's SAFF U-16 Championship slated to be held in in Sylhet from August 9-18.
Nepal, the runner-up of the last edition, will take on Maldives in the opener of Group B on August 10 and meets Afghanistan four days later in the event, which sees participation of six teams. Defending champion India is pitted in Group A with host Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.Pakistan, the winner of the first edition, and Bhutan are not taking part in the tournament.
Nepal hosted first and second editions of the championship in 2011 and 2013 of the bi-annual event. Nepal earned third place in the first edition and finished runner up in the second edition after going down 1-0 against India in the final.
Meanwhile, All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) bade farewell to the team at its office in Satdobato on Thursday. During the program, ANFA President Ganesh Thapa said that he has high expectations from the youth team.
"We have a good reputation in age group tournaments and I am confident that you will live up to it," Thapa said.
The youth team, which trained for about one month to prepare for the tournament, played friendly against U-19 national team, Armed Police Force and Manang Marshyangdi Club during the period. The U-16 team faced defeats against U-19 and APF edged past MMC by 3-0 in the friendlies.
Nepali Squad
Goalkeeper: Arpan Karki, Akash Ranabhat, Sandesh Gurung
Defender: Roman Limbu, Laxman Pariyar, Rajan Gurung, Pawan Karki, Anosh Magar, Suman Aryal, Aashish KC
Midfielder: Abhishek Rijal, Dewas Urau, Manish Karki (C), Sesehang Angdembe, Anil Maharjan, Bikash Ale, Ashok Thapa
Forward: Rajiv Lopchan, Rejin Subba, Dinesh Henjan, Prezen Tamang, Rajesh Pariyar, Kshitiz Raj GT
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