The Nepali national football team will go to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on Tuesday to play the third round of Asia Cup qualifiers
What you should know
Nepal is at the last place among the four teams in Group F of the third round of Asia Cup Football 2027 qualifiers. Nepal has been defeated in both the matches played so far. That means Nepal is numberless. Nepal also lost in the must-win match against Laos. However, if the situation is unexpectedly prepared, Nepal can adapt to it. The other two teams in this group are Malaysia and Vietnam.
Malaysia is at the top with 6 points after winning two matches, followed by Vietnam with 3 points. Then Laos also has 3 points. Lately, Nepali football has been plagued by a loss against a rival, and that is against Laos. Nepal lost the first match against Malaysia by 2-0. Then there was a shock 2-1 loss to Laos. Laos was such a team, with whom Nepal had never lost before.
What is the new situation now? Malaysia is being prosecuted by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), accused of playing ineligible players. If Malaysia really gets into action, Nepal can get 3 points from that match. In this way, the basis for being enthusiastic against Nepal and performing well in the upcoming games can be prepared. In this background, the Nepali national football team is facing Vietnam and is going to Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday.
Nepal will play two matches there, at Go Tau Stadium. The first game will be on Thursday. This will be Vietnam's home game. Then these two teams will meet for the second time on October 28th. This will be Nepal's home game. Since the Dashrath Stadium is not suitable for FIFA and AFC matches, Nepal has lost the opportunity to play at home. The Nepali team is also disappointed by this fact, because the team is losing the advantage of playing at home.
Strong Vietnam
Recently, if any team has progressed well in Asian football, it is also Vietnam. In the sixties, Vietnamese football was extremely strong. Later it went downhill. Since 2000, Vietnamese football is trying to wake up again. In this process, Vietnam has also qualified for the Asia Cup twice. Among the Southeast countries, Vietnamese football is considered to be the highest level. Therefore, Vietnam is also the winner of ASEAN Championship 2024.
The tournament is the largest of Southeast countries, and Vietnam has won it three times. Nepal is not an opponent that can play regularly against Vietnam. Nepal and Vietnam have played two matches so far. Both these matches took place in the second round of the 2003 Asia Cup Qualifiers. Among them, Nepal was defeated 5-0 in the first leg in Incheon, South Korea. Then Nepal lost 2-0 in the second leg in Muscat, Oman.
Nepal is facing Vietnam for the first time after 22 years. For Nepal, that Asia Cup selection was completely forgettable. Nepal's performance in both South Korea and Oman was very poor. Nepal suffered one defeat after another by wide goal difference. This second round of Asia Cup qualifiers has been one of the worst results in Nepali football history. Therefore, it would be better for Nepal to forget its past history when facing Vietnam now.
Different preparations
Nepali national team head coach Matt Ross is excited about the game against Vietnam. He considers the preparations so far for this to be different. At the press meet organized by ANFA on Monday, coach Ross said, 'This time the preparation was really different, because now most of our players are playing professional football in Bangladesh, Maldives and Cambodia. So Kiran Limbu and Laken Limbu will come directly to Vietnam.'
He added, 'So initially we tested some new players, but in the end we trusted the old players. This time the preparation was different because of this. The result of the match against Malaysia will be reversed rather than why we are enthusiastic about the current situation. Let's believe, we will get 3 points. If this happens, we are also eligible for selection. So the two games against Vietnam will be very important.'
We are also confident, because we have prepared well. Against Vietnam, we will not change our game style and strategy much. Now our players are used to the team plan. As a coach I was happy with the performance of our players in the friendly match against Bangladesh. We want to maintain this rhythm against Vietnam as well. Against Vietnam, we will play with some attack,' said coach Ross.
Australian coach Ross claimed, "We believe in adding points against Vietnam." All our players are fit. All our players are strong both physically and mentally. We have also prepared well in the last few weeks. Recently, Nepal has gone through many ups and downs. We want to give a positive message through football. Nepali cricket has done well last time, now it's Nepali football's turn.'
very important game
Nepali team's most senior player, Rohit Chand. He said while facing the Nepali media on Monday, "The match against Vietnam is very important, based on the position of the group. We have prepared well for this.' He claimed that there might be some problem in the 'match-fitness' of the players. He also believed that the match against Vietnam would be difficult and termed it as 'hard and open'. Analyzing Vietnam as a
opponent, Rohit said, "I have played football in Southeast Asia for a long time. So I have a little knowledge about Vietnamese football. I have some knowledge of how they play. We have prepared accordingly. We are going to give 100 percent on the field.' He admitted that there is pressure on the forwards of the Nepali team and said, 'We are trying to improve this area according to what we have in our hands.'
Nepali team: Abhishek Limbu, Anant Tamang, Anjan Bisht, Eric Bisht, Ayush Ghalan, Bimal Pandey, Vishal Sunar, Deep Karki, Dinesh Henjan, Jellespjung Karki, Kiran Limbu (Captain), Kritisharat Chunju, Kushal Deuba, Laken Limbu, Manikumar Lama, Manish Dangi, Rohit Chand, Rohan Karki, Sanish Shrestha, Suwas Thakuri Bam, Sumit Shrestha, Suman Shrestha and Yogesh Gurung.
