Having ended a 23-year South Asian Games gold medal drought in India in 2016, Nepal now prepare to defend the men's football title when the country plays host to the biennial meet on December 1-10.

The U-23 Nepali team rallied from a goal down to beat hosts India 2-1 in the 2016 final in Guwahati. Unlike 26 other disciplines included in the Games, the Nepal football team has already started their preparation. Coach Bal Gopal Maharjan, who was part of Nepal who won the last South Asian Games football gold in in 1993 in Bangladesh, has been mentoring the team since August 1. "It would be special to win the game both as player and coach," Maharjan said.

Maharjan sees it both as a challenge and an opportunity to outwit the likes of regional powerhouse India. "Indian football has made a huge stride forward in the past few years. Others in the region are also equally good. But despite all odds we need to go into the tournament with positive mindset. If we get proper exposure and facility ahead of the Game, we are capable of defending the title," said Maharjan who has also led the national U-19 team to title in 2015 SAFF Championship and senior team to Bangabandhu Gold Cup title in 2016 in Bangladesh.

Maharjan has called 45 players in the preliminary phase of training and around 30 players are currently in the camp. While 13 of them are undergoing senior national team training camp as part of their preparations for the FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification, three other players are currently out of the country.

In the first phase of training, Maharjan and his coaching staffs—which included assistant coach Rajesh Manandhar, goalkeeping coach Mrigendra Mishra and National Sports Council head coach Nilam Hada and coach Jay Krishna Shrestha—are focusing more on fitness training. "The training is going smoothly and we are giving priority to fitness and strength. Conditioning and technical aspects are also going on simultaneously." said Maharjan.

The players were called up on the basis of their experience at the senior national squad, U-23 tournaments in the past and their performance at the senior level tournaments. The team will be reduced to 35 on September 1. "I am satisfied with the way the training is going on. As the defending champions we are one of the tournament favourites. We are counting on home advantage as well. We could be in better shape if we get abroad training and exposure with tough opponents," said Maharjan.

Maharjan has already urged the football governing body—All Nepal Football Association—National Sports Council and Nepal Olympic Committee to manage friendly matches and training abroad so as to increase their chances of striking gold again. "They are all positive to our proposal," he said.

The South Asian Games football tournament is U-23 event but allows inclusion of three senior players in a team. Nepal have picked up five for the preliminary phase including goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong, defender Rohit Chand, midfielder Bikram Lama and Sujal Shrestha and forward Nawayug Shrestha. The team has not yet decided over the captaincy but one of the five seniors is certain to wear the captain's armband.

Nepali squad

Goalkeeper: Kiran Chemjong, Roman Rasaili, Arpan Karki, Deep Karki, Dev Limbu, Pradeep Bhandari, Abishek Baral.

Defender: Rohit Chand, Ashim Bhusal, Bishwash Udas, Ananta Tamang, Dinesh Rajbansi, Bikash Khawash, Tshiring Gurung, Gaurav Budathoki, Rajan Gurung, Roman Limbu, Suman Aryal, Amit Tamang.

Mifielder: Hemant Thapa Magar, Roshan Pahari, Sesehang Angadembe, Nitin Thapa, Tej Tamang, Arik Bista, Aruj Singh, Bikram Lama, Ashok Thapa, Bijaya Shrestha, Sujal Shrestha, Dipesh Ale Magar, Anjan Bista, Sunil Bal, Sushant Shrestha, Ram Chandra Wajee.