Savitra Bhandari 'Samba', the captain of the Nepali National Women's Football Team, has said that despite not being successful in qualifying for the AFC Women's Asian Cup held in Uzbekistan, she returned with a lot of positive energy.

The Nepali team was deprived of the opportunity to play in the Asian Cup after 1999 when the home team lost 4-2 in the penalty shootout against Uzbekistan in the decisive and final match of the qualifying group 'F'. This time, the Nepali team was seen as a contender to play in the Asian Cup, but could not succeed as they were defeated in the penalty shootout.

However, Savitra, who was appointed captain on the eve of this selection, said that despite the setback, she returned with a lot of positive energy. She said, 'In the beginning, it was difficult to soak in the atmosphere of Uzbekistan. Paying attention to every single game and playing according to the coach's strategy, something was successful.'

She defended the team by saying that they managed to play aggressive football despite having three defenders in the team. Captain Savitra mentioned that it was not easy to get back into the game even after conceding three goals in the beginning. Overall, he believes that he played better against a higher level team than him and came back with his positive energy.

She said, 'All the supporters present appreciated their performance. Although this tournament was a great opportunity for them, they could not utilize it properly. There was a 50/50 chance in the last match of the selection. But it could not be successful. Because of this, it will continue to suffer in the future.' He understands that it was difficult to handle after conceding a goal at the beginning of the

game. Captain Savitra says that even though the situation became more difficult after conceding another goal, she returned to the game with the enthusiasm of the coaching staff. She said that second half coach Patrick de Wilde was encouraging the team by encouraging them to return to the game. In the

qualifying match, Nepal was trailing by 3-1 goals in the first half. However, in the extra time of the first half, a player from Uzbekistan got a red card and it became easier for Nepali. Nepal returned two goals to equalize 3-3. After the match was tied at the scheduled time, it was pushed directly to penalties according to the rules of the competition.

But after captain Savitra Bhandari and goalkeeper Anjana Ranamar were not successful in the penalty shootout, the Nepali team faced a 4-2 defeat. Along with this, Nepal also lost the opportunity to become the third South Asian nation to qualify for the Asian Cup to be held in Australia next year. Bangladesh and India were selected from South Asia.

Ahead of this selection, coach Patrick de Wilde dropped regular captain and goalkeeper Anjila Tumbapo Subba from both duties. Patrick appointed Savitra as the captain and Anjana as the goalkeeper. ANFA had initially announced the name of Renuka Nagarkoti as the captain.

But later ANFA itself changed the name saying that Savitra was given the captaincy. The incident was made public when there was a dispute over who would be made the captain. Savitra admitted that the issue of selecting the captain was somewhat challenging and there was controversy.  She said, 'Because of that, I couldn't even sleep for a few days. Even though he had a different kind of pressure, his teammates helped him.'