Nepal came from a goal down to hold highly ranked Chinese Taipei to a 1-1 draw during an international friendly match in Kaohsiung on Thursday as Nepal’s Swedish coach Johan Kalin continued to wait for his first victory after taking the the reins of Nepali football.

Avishek Rijal headed the equaliser in the 64th minute to cancel out Chinese Taipei’s 40th minute lead taken through Wu Chung Ching. Rijal headed home a freekick from Santosh Tamang to restore the parity. It was the second cap for Rijal who appeared in the national jersey for the first time as a substitute against Malaysia in an international friendly on June 2. Rijal’s goal also ended Nepal’s six match goal drought as the country had gone through a barren spell after their 2-0 victory over Bangladesh during the group stage of the 2018 SAFF Championship in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Kalin, appointed the head coach of Nepali team on March 1 after the nation’s SAFF Championship campaign that ended in the semi-finals, now continues to wait to get his first victory after taking charge of the team in four matches.

In his first two friendly matches against Kuwait played on March 21 and 25, Nepal had played 0-0 draw in the first match before going down 1-0 in Kuwait City. Nepal had also faced 2-0 defeat against Malaysia on Thursday.

Kalin, however, will return to the country holding his head high after holding a side that is ranked way above Nepal in the FIFA rankings. Chinese Taipei are currently ranked 125th, 36 spots above Nepal in the world rankings. Nepali team had been to Malaysia and Chinese for friendly matches to prepare the team for joint Qualifier of World Cup and Asia Cup to be held later this year.