After German, English, Brazilian, South Korean, Japanese, American, Belgian, Swedish, Kuwaiti and Italian, the Nepali national football team now has an Australian coach. He is, 47-year-old Matt Ross.
He will be the 19th official foreign head coach of football for Nepal. It has been 20 years since Ross started training. He will have a challenging responsibility to break the situation of confusion, uncertainty and distrust in Nepali men's football.
He spoke to Nepali media for the first time on Monday. He tried to be as positive as possible. Just the day before this, he signed a one-year contract with the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA). Well, this contract is only for one year. What he wants to convince is that the work he does in a year will open the door to new opportunities. It has been a month since he came to Nepal. He has had the opportunity to watch the performance of Nepalese players. He has also enjoyed the performance of the women's team.
After an hour's stay with him, the five essential facts were as follows:
A big and proud occasion
Some coaches have previously used Nepal as an opportunity to boost their image. Maybe Ross isn't like that. His first formal sentence is, 'Being the head coach of the Nepali football team is a great and proud opportunity for me. I have a special role in this special country. He was in charge of the Nepali team. For this, they are also doing a kind of homework. For a long time, he was trying to ask about Nepali football.
He is amazed by the love of common people towards football in Nepal. He says, 'This kind of experience may not be possible while staying in Nepal. However, I have spent time in many countries. The passion for football here is truly incredible. I want to turn this passion into strength and take Nepali football to new heights. Nepali football is really special. I am at the right stage of my career. My role is not limited to training. I will try to support Nepali football as much as possible.
Ross said his aim is to win the SAFF Championship. He said, "Perhaps qualifying for the Asia Cup may be difficult, but I will try to bring the Nepali team closer to it." Some might consider it ambitious rather than my aim being to win the SAFF Championship. However, if I do not say this, it will be unfair to Nepali football. Our players are incredibly talented. Nepali players are world class, some are even higher than this.
In his experience, the country where the coach is good, has developed a lot in football recently. He is ready to help at club level, age group level and school level, prepare coaches. The sole purpose of all this will be to promote Nepali football. He does not want to be limited to the responsibility of the men's team. He also wants to promote the football culture in Nepal. He says, 'The day the Nepalese team will be fielded under my leadership will be unforgettable.'
A little bit of Guardiola, a little bit of Mourinho
'I am neither Pep Guardiola nor Jose Mourinho,' he did not stop saying this. But it seems that both of them have some influence on him. Well, both of them are different coaches. He himself is a supporter of the English Premier League club Arsenal. He says, 'Nowadays, there is a growing trend of talking about football philosophy. I am a coach who emphasizes attacking football. I am a coach who loves pro-active football. I want to see players play with high emphasis. You will be able to see football like this under my leadership.
But what everyone needs to understand is that right now we have only two weeks to prepare for the Asia Cup qualifiers. We don't have enough time to prepare for the match against Malaysia. So we have to look at opportunities and work. We have to be open to all possibilities. As soon as the time is right, we must attack. If we are in the lead, we should also emphasize on a strong defensive line at the back,' he told the plan. His aim is to transform the Nepali team into
playing style. "I have watched the matches played by Nepal in the last 12 months. I have paid a lot of attention to one such area, which says, the Nepalese team needs transformation. In international football, if you lose control of the ball, you will go backwards. This is a very important step. Pay attention to how to play when you have the strength and when you don't have it, I want the opposition to follow our players," he said. If
can do so much, he believes that Nepali football will be successful. He further adds, "I want Nepali players to keep control over the ball for a long time." We don't rush to play the long ball. So you have to control the force as much as possible. A player must be able to withstand pressure when the ball is present. We have players who can do this.'' He did not miss to say that he likes Guardiola and Mourinho too.
The possibility of seeing the women's team too
In particular, he has spent most of his coaching life in women's football. If so, how likely is it that he will watch the Nepali women's team? Finally, the Nepali women's team also needs a foreign coach. He seemed more than a little amused by the question. His diplomatic style of reply was, "For this, first of all, we need to talk to the ANFA president and general secretary. The answer is with them
will only happen.'
He says, 'I had the opportunity to watch the women's football final between Nepal and Myanmar. The atmosphere at the Dasharath Stadium was incredibly sensational. The female players were also very talented. Preeti Rai is a big star player. There is also a lot of potential for Nepali women's football. I have also followed Nepali women's football. I believe, we can make a very strong women's team.'
