The Nepali women's football team's performance against Iran in the Three Nations Cup was disappointing. Nepal lost 3-0 to Iran in the match held in Shillong, India.

Iran is the same team that Nepal defeated 3-0 in the 2019 Women's Gold Cup. Six years after that, Iranian football has made a huge leap forward.

If Iran qualifies for the upcoming Asia Cup, what else can we consider progress? 'We have learned a great lesson from the game against Iran,' said Nepali team head coach Naveen Neupane. This is a slightly disappointing statement, something that a losing team often says. He does not want to dwell on this Three Nations Cup, his eyes are on the future.

Whatever he has said since reaching India, his plans are for the long term. At least for the upcoming Women's SAFF Championship. After the defeat against Iran, criticism has begun not only of the team, but also of him. Having said this, one fact is certain that the situation is the same, every time Nepal faces India, things are different, things are special.

This is more applicable to women's football these days. Who can forget the semi-final between Nepal and India in the Women's SAFF Championship held at the Dasharath Stadium a year ago? Nepal defeated India in a tiebreaker to enter the final despite being one goal behind. The player who scored the goal for Nepal was the same Savitra Bhandari.

Who can forget her 'iconic celebration' after the goal? After that match, she was asked, 'Is this the happiest moment for Samba so far?' Savitra replied yes and yes. Instead, she said, 'The moment when India defeated India was more important than that. Even if India lost to Nepali players, its importance is the same.'

The victory that Savitra tried to give more importance to came in 2019, in the same Women's Gold Cup. Nepal defeated India 2-1 in Bhubaneswar in the league stage match. ‘At least personally, I consider this victory a big one. I keep repeating this,’ Savitra said. However, as international Nepali women’s football approaches four decades, that victory is historic in itself.

It was the first time that Nepal defeated India in women’s football. In this way, an opportunity has once again been prepared for Nepal, to defeat India in India. Nepal started playing against India in 2010. It had to wait 9 years for its first victory. Before and after that, Nepal has also played 6 finals against India and has lost each time.

If we look back once again, Nepal and India have played 18 matches so far. Out of these, India has won 11 matches, four matches have ended in a draw, and Nepal has won three matches. The most important fact is that Nepal is undefeated in the last four matches against India. Two of these matches ended in a draw, while Nepal won two matches. Nepal has scored a total of 12 goals in those 18 matches against India, and out of those, eight have been scored by Savitra alone. In that sense, Savitra will be expected to score this time too. Another fact is that Nepal has played India six times on its own soil. In those matches, Nepal has won once, drawn three times, and lost twice to India.

Savitra has scored five goals in those matches. This is the third time that Nepal is facing India in Shillong. Nepal had held India to a goalless draw in the league stage of the 2016 South Asian Games. Nepal met India in the final. But Nepal was defeated 5-0 by Namjaja. This is the second big defeat against India. Nepal will now have an opportunity to take revenge for that, this time.

'We want to give a positive message'

Nepal is going to face India in the second match of the tournament on Monday, and on the eve of that, the Nepali team had also practiced at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Speaking to the Nepali media on the same occasion, coach Neupane said that the preparations were good. He said, ‘The preparations are very good. The first game was affected by the long distance travel.’