Nepal's challenge will be presented by league champion APF Club in the tournament, which will feature a total of 5 teams. With the national team having yet to win a title, APF will have an opportunity to put an end to that streak in club football.
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South Asian women's football enters a new chapter on Friday, when the inaugural edition of the Women's Club SAFF Championship begins at the Dashrath Stadium. Nepal's challenge will be presented by league champions APF Club in the five-team competition. With the national team yet to win a title, APF will have an opportunity to put an end to that streak in club football.
But the team has a big problem, at least in its first match. In the first match of the opening day, Pakistan's Karachi City will face Bhutan's Transport United. Then, in the second match, APF will compete against rival Nasrin Club of Bangladesh. The problem for APF is that some of the team's key players are playing in foreign leagues. On top of that, the key players are also quite tired. The journey has taken its toll on them.
The Nepali women's national team arrived in Kathmandu only at midnight on Wednesday. Most of its players are from APF. Captain Anita Basnet said in the pre-match conference organized by BHR, "Most of our players are tired, which has also affected the performance of the players. But we are still excited about the tournament. We are playing at home and we have an opportunity to win the title."
He believes that the result of the first match of the tournament will provide a lot of facts, so it will be very important. Moreover, coach Jeevesh Pandey has not been able to conduct a single training session for this tournament. His focus will also be on giving the players as much rest as possible. Former national player Pandey says, ‘We are ready for the tournament, we are waiting for the first match.’
The team that APF will face is Bangladesh’s Nasrin. Nasrin is in the process of presenting its challenge against the backdrop of the Bangladesh national team winning the Women’s SAFF Championship twice at the Dashrath Stadium. The biggest feature of this team is the majority of age-group players.
The team’s captain is Sanjida Khatun. She says, ‘There are only a few senior players in the team along with me. The pressure is the same for all teams, we are also under the same pressure.’ Bangladeshi team coach Monir Hussain says, ‘Our team is enthusiastic about the tournament.’
On the other hand, Transport United is the team that came second in the Bhutanese Women’s League. Most of its members are also members of the Bhutanese national team. In the words of captain Sunita Rai, 90 percent of the players are from the national team. Captain Sunita says, ‘Our full focus is on the competition. We are all enthusiastic.’ She also expressed her happiness at being able to play at the Dashrath Stadium and added, ‘I think Nepali football fans love this game very much.’ The Bhutanese team is coached by Yesi Wangchuk. She said that her team has prepared well for this competition.
Pakistan’s Karachi City is only a club established in 2021. The captain of that team, Maria Khan, said that even though they are playing at the club level, they are representing the country and that is what motivates them to play well. Coach Adil Rizki expressed his happiness at being able to play in Kathmandu once again. He said, ‘We are waiting for the first match of the competition and expect a good performance in it.’
The fifth team in the competition is East Bengal. The team’s first match is only on Monday. The team arrived in Kathmandu late on Thursday, so they were unable to attend the pre-match conference.
