After the win over Singapore, it's time for serious football. The Nepali national football team is facing Malaysia in the third round of Asia Cup qualifiers on Tuesday. For now, Singaporean football is under fire everywhere. The only reason for that is the defeat with Nepal. After winning such an important match, the Nepali team must have been enthusiastic. Undoubtedly, the challenge presented by Malaysia will be different from that of Singapore. That too in his own land.
While presenting to the media for the second time before leaving Kathmandu, Matt Ross, the head coach of the Nepali team, said that the team's aim is to get as close as possible to the Asia Cup qualifiers. The same coach said when he appeared before the media for the first time, that he will have to play defensive football if the situation calls for it. In the game against Malaysia, coach Ross's strategy will probably be a mixture of these two lines. But now he's a little more excited.
In the pre-match conference held in Johor before the match against Malaysia, Ross says that Nepal will perform well against Malaysia. One thing is for sure, selection means tailoring the results of your first match and making the way forward easier.
Ross says, 'Malaysia is a strong team, you can be satisfied with a draw. But we will play for three points. Our plan is to win. We have prepared accordingly.'
He goes one step further and claims, 'There is no thought of playing equal.' Later, when the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) was not satisfied with the condition of Dashrath Stadium, Malaysia moved. After that, it will be Malaysia's 'home match' at the request of All Nepal Football Association (ANFA). When facing Malaysia for the second time, Nepal will have an opportunity to make it a home game.
Captain Kiran Limbu said in the pre-match conference, "Here too, the audience will turn out to be supporters of the Nepali team. I think there will be no shortage of Nepali supporters. It doesn't matter if it's not the home ground. We will play happily. It will not make a difference who will have more viewers.' Nepali supporters were present in large numbers in the match against Singapore in Singapore. This made the situation favorable to the Nepali team to a large extent. The
is Malaysia's head coach, Peter Klamowski. Coincidentally, he is also Australian. As are the juices. Now, when Ange Postecoglou was in charge of the Australian team, Klamovski was his assistant. Regarding Nepal's game, he says, 'We are enthusiastic when we face Nepal. We have prepared for that. Nepal has defeated Singapore, so Nepal cannot be considered as an easy opponent.' Out of that, Nepal has tied only one match and lost all the rest. Since holding Malaysia to a goalless draw in Kathmandu in the 1985 World Cup qualifiers, Nepal has lost all four of its subsequent matches. Even against Malaysia, Nepal has not scored a single goal.
Nepal has played twice against Malaysia in Mardeka Cup. Nepal was defeated in these two unofficial games as well. The last time Nepal played against Malaysia was in 2024, when it was a friendly in Kuala Lumpur and was played behind closed doors. Nepal was also defeated by 5-1. Sameer Tamang scored the only goal scored by Nepal. Even before defeating Singapore, Nepal's position against Singapore was weak. Can we expect an improved performance from Nepal against Malaysia?
