Newly-appointed national men’s team head coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese on Tuesday said the inexperience of players will be a major challenge for the Italian coach as many players have left for abroad.

Nearly three dozen of Nepali footballers, including prominent members of the national squad have left for Australia in the past couple of years, seeking better opportunities. Without mentioning Nepali footballers' Australia craze, Annese said: “The challenge is about the quality of players and providing them experience. You can’t buy experience in a supermarket.”

“In the last few days, I studied the football players from the ‘A’ Division league and I saw big potential in them. I believe that we can do a great job with these players," said the 38-year-old who was formally announced by the All Nepal Football Association, two weeks after his appointment in the hot seat.

The Italian’s first assignment will be to lead the Nepali team in the Three Nations Cup at home, comprising less fancied sides, Bhutan and Laos, from March 22 to 31.

Asked if he would call the players who left for abroad, Annese said, “I don’t know the actual situation. But if one player leaves for an amateur club and non-football league, it's better to select players I have seen. It's a great opportunity for young players to get selected for the national team. It is a boost for them as well.”

Having led Gokulam Kerala to back-to-back titles of I-League, the second-tier football of India from 2020 to 2022, Annese said that he has followed Nepali football for the past few years. “I have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. I have followed Nepal for two-three years and It was a big dream to come here. I want to be at a high level and improve my career. I think this is the best point of my career,” he added.

Annese will replace Abdullah Almutairi, who left the Nepal job in September last year following a controversy-hit one-and-a-half year stint with the national side. Since the Kuwaiti’s resignation, Nepal played two international friendly football matches against Bangladesh and Pakistan under caretaker managers Pradip Humagain and Prabesh Katuwal.

After his short playing career in Italy with Serie B side Venezia and some other local clubs, Annese shifted to a coaching role while he was 27. Since then, he has travelled to nine different countries in managerial roles. He worked as the coach of the Belize national team for a year in 2019-2020 and as technical coach of Armenia U-19 team.

The Italian known for his attacking style of play while in India, said that his goal is to win more matches. “The attitude of my players must be attacking. I like the team to enjoy and score more goals. We need to take risks in football. I know some Nepali players whom I faced in India and Indonesia,” said Annese. “We will pick young players in the squad, but a complete change may be dangerous. We need to be calm and select the right players. We need to find replacement of players (who left for abroad).”

He also pointed out that Nepal needed to work on improving the physical conditions of their players and make suitable amendments in the congested schedule of Nepali football. “We need to improve on the league calendar. They play two matches in three days and they don’t get sufficient time to recover. The players get injured in almost every game. So, I think Nepal needs to improve there.”