All four participating nations have completed their preparations for the SAFF U-19 Women's Football Championship, which begins at the Pokhara Stadium on Saturday. The tournament, organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), is the first international football tournament to be held at the Pokhara Stadium after the 13th South Asian Games (SAG) in 2019.

Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan will participate in this competition organized by the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA). In the pre-match conference held in Pokhara on Friday, the coaches and captains of all four teams said that their teams are fully prepared for the competition. In this competition, which will be conducted in a round-robin league system, each team will play one match against the other teams. After the league stage, the final match will be held on 24 Magh between the top two teams. The opening match of the championship will be held between Bangladesh and Bhutan on Saturday at 12 noon. Host Nepal will play India on Saturday at 3 pm. The remaining matches of the league stage will be held from 19 to 21 Magh. There will be two matches each day. For the convenience of the spectators, ANFA has fixed the ticket price at 200 rupees for general parapets and 500 rupees for VIP parapets.

Nepali team's head coach Suman Shrestha has set a goal to perform well in this championship to be held at home. 'The players have improved a lot during training,' he said at a press conference held in Pokhara on Friday. 'Our goal is to keep the title at home.'

He said that although the preparation period was short, the preparation was good. He estimates that since they trained on natural grounds in Kathmandu, there will be no problem on the Pokhara grounds. Although all the teams participating in the competition are strong, he said that he sees India as the main competitor. 'If the first match is good, the other matches will be good.' No matter what the results were before, we will try to bring a different result this time,' he said. 'We have played with mostly U-17 players. All the players are in a positive mindset.'

Captain Sushila KC said that the competition at home is beneficial for Nepal. 'Being at home is a plus point for us. This time we are moving forward with the hope of getting good results,' she said, 'We have improved a lot in a short time. The players are hardworking and motivated.'

ANFA had given the responsibility of the head coach of the women's U-19 team to Suman Shrestha in December. Suman, an experienced coach of domestic football, recently took charge of the 'A' Division League champion Church Boys United. Previously, he has experience coaching Manang Marsyangdi, Himalayan Sherpa, Nepal Super League (NSL) franchise Pokhara Thunders and Bhutanese club Phuentsholing Heroes FC.

Under his leadership, the team trained in Kathmandu for three weeks. He has included experienced U-17 players in the process of building the Nepali team. Sushila KC, Senu Pariyar, Maya Maskey and Varsha Oli, who participated in the last edition, will play this time too. These four are the most experienced players in the Nepali team who are regularly playing at the national age group.

The Nepali U-19 team is set to take to the home field from Saturday with the aim of changing the history of Nepali women's football, which has not won any international title in its age group so far. This edition has become an important opportunity for Nepal to improve its forgettable history.

Despite reaching the final three times before, Nepal had finished as runners-up three times. Especially, Nepal was denied the title when it lost to Bangladesh in the finals of 2018 and 2023. Bangladesh is the most successful team in the South Asian region, having won the title five times, while India has won the title twice.

The advantage of home field and limited team

This time, only four countries, including Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan, are participating in the competition. It is expected that Nepal will have an easier time winning the title after Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Maldives did not participate citing internal reasons. However, the main challenge for Nepal will be to outdo strong rivals India and Bangladesh.

SAFF General Secretary Purushottam Kattel said, ‘As per the rules, all seven nations are supposed to participate, but three nations withdrew citing internal problems. However, this will not significantly affect the competitiveness of the tournament.’

ANFA shifted the tournament to Pokhara after the Dasharath Stadium was unavailable due to the national league football being played in Kathmandu. ANFA Chief Executive Officer Indraman Tuladhar said that they are moving forward with the goal of making Pokhara a ‘hub’ of international football. District Sports Development Committee Chairman Milan Gurung expressed confidence that football fans from all over the country will come to Pokhara to support the home team.

ANFA spokesperson Suresh Shah gave information about the preparations and said, ‘All preparations have been completed.’ The Goste Sports Ground in Lamachaur has been arranged for the training of the participating teams. The organizers have estimated that it will cost around Rs 24.515,290 to complete this tournament.