Nepal eye win against Pakistan in football friendly
Rohit Chand-led team today face a Pakistani side that is returning to international action for the first time in more than three years.Nepal caretaker coach Prabesh Katuwal (left) and captain Rohit Chand during a pre-match conference in Kathmandu on Tuesday. Keshav Thapa/TKP
Nepal’s national football team will play Pakistan in an international friendly football match on Wednesday with Nepali captain Rohit Chand confident that the Gorkhalis will get the better of the Shaheens on their home ground.
“Our team have prepared well for this friendly. We are hopeful of winning this match,” said Chand, who is going to wear the captain’s armband in the absence of goalkeeper Kiran Kumar Limbu.
Limbu is playing for Punjab FC in India’s second-tier football competition I-League.
It will be Chand’s first international match as a captain.
“I am taking on the captain’s duty for the first time. But every player in the team is important and has his own responsibility,” added Chand, who plays for the Indonesian club, Persik Kediri.
Pakistan are returning to international action for the first time in more than three years due to Covid-19 pandemic and FIFA ban, and boast four Denmark-based players, including their captain Hassan Bashir. FIFA lifted their suspension, which was imposed in April 2021 due to undue third-party interference, in June this year.
Their last international outing came against Cambodia in the first qualifying round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in June 2019. Goalkeeper Yousuf Butt and midfielder Adnan Mohammed featured alongside Bashir in the tie that Pakistan had lost 4-1 on aggregate.
Versatile Bashir, 35, and Butt, 33—both born in Copenhagen— are playing for the Danish third-division side, Ishoj IF.
Butt, the winner of 2018 SAFF Championship Safe Hand award—the award given for the most saves, is considered one of the best goalkeepers in South Asia and has more than 200 division games experience.
Adnan plays as a winger for Denmark’s fourth-division club VB 1968.
Pakistan’s final Denmark-based player, Abdullah Iqbal, 20, is uncapped and plays for the second division club, B93, as a defender.
Pakistan captain Hassan Bashir and head coach Shahzad Anwar during a pre-match conference in Kathmandu on Tuesday. Keshav Thapa/TKP
Nepal’s acting head coach Prabesh Katuwal is expecting a tough challenge from Pakistan.
“Their players have been playing in international leagues despite the ban…which makes them a strong team,” said the coach, who has taken the Nepal duty only for the friendly.
“They are returning to action after years. That is why they want to win. But, we are optimistic,” Katuwal added.
Katuwal have recalled Nawayug Shrestha, Sun Bal and Ayush Ghalan to the front line in the places of Manish Dangi, Hrithik Khadka and Ashish Chaudhary, who were all part of the squad, under the caretaker coach Pradip Humagain, that defeated Bangladesh 3-1 in a friendly, in September.
Katuwal has also included Gautam Shrestha and Nishan Khadka in the defence line, and Bishal Rai to strengthen the midfield.
Pakistan and Nepal have met 16 times in the past. Of them, Nepal have won five matches. Seven fixtures have gone in Pakistan’s favour, while four have ended in draws.
Their last meeting came during the 2018 SAFF Games in Dhaka, which Nepal lost 2-1.
Pakistan captain Bashir expects to continue their winning streak against Nepal.
“We have a better head-to-head record. I have played four times against Nepal. Of them, we won three and once played for a draw,” said Bashir.
Pakistan’s coach Shahzad Anwar is also looking for a morale-boosting victory.
“Pakistani football has gone through a lot in the last few years. We have not been able to prepare well, but our players are good,” said Anwar.
“We want to make our international return a happy one,” the Pakistan coach added.
Dil Kumar Ale Magar is a sports reporter for The Kathmandu Post focusing on football, cricket and sports features. Before joining the Post in 2020, he spent more than four years at Republica.
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