All four teams in Group F of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers shared their desire to upset each other in the pre-tournament press conference at the Milliy (Bunyodkor) Stadium on Saturday.

Uzbekistan are hosting Nepal, Laos and Sri Lanka in the qualifiers, with only one—the group topper—qualifying for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia next year. The tournament kicks off on Sunday with Nepal facing Laos at 5 pm local time (5:45 pm Nepali time) followed by Uzbekistan vs Sri Lanka at 8 pm.

“Welcome everybody, the expectation is that we win the tournament,” Nepal’s head coach Patric De Wilde said in his opening remarks. “And to enjoy.”

He added, “All other coaches are also prepared for the tournament. The good thing about football is to play international games at the highest level. My players are ready.”

Further, Wilde shared that he was excited to be an opponent of Uzbekistan’s head coach Kotryna Kulbyte, who took over the role around five months ago. “We worked together in Lithuania,” Wilde said. “She is a great coach and she is not going to stop here.”

Wilde was a technical director for Lithuania’s football federation in 2021, before moving to Raja Casablanca under a similar role.

Similarly, Kullbyte also expressed joy to meet Wilde, who was like a mentor to him, after several years. “He always has some jokes, he never changes,” Kullbyte said when asked about the reunion.

“When you analyse a team, you must keep in mind who the coach is as well as the players and what style they play. They are all the pillars that make up a team.”

Likewise, Wilde said that good coaches were not sufficient to bring good results. “We need great players,” Wilde told the Post.

However, head coaches of Laos and Sri Lanka also shared that they were in Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan, to put up a great fight. “The men’s team defeated Nepal recently, so, yeah, we also have a chance,” said Jong Song Chon, head coach of Laos.

Nepal’s men’s team, undefeated against Laos in six matches, lost their seventh match 1-2 in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers on June 10.

Chon praised Nepal’s women players and said that their opening game of the tournament, which will be against Nepal, will be an exciting one.

“All the teams in the tournament are good. It is going to be a good experience for us,” Chon said. “I hope every team enjoy their games as well.”

On the other hand, Sri Lanka’s head coach M.R.M Jusmin indirectly shared that his team was not a great one.

“We do not have a lot of prominent women's football clubs back home,” said Jusmin. “We have players from the clubs of national security agencies and some from school level.”

Nonetheless, when Wilde was asked about the strength of his team, with the likes of players who play in the top-tier club competition in Europe, the Middle East and South Asia, he said that it was beneficial.

“We, however, have a negative point as we didn’t play a friendly,” Wilde said. “But we are ready to represent Nepali football at its best.”

Wilde and his staff have been training the players to get used to the weather in Uzbekistan since the Central Asian nation is less humid with lower precipitation, making it difficult to breathe.

He also accepted the fact that he was a new coach with Nepal, with only over two weeks’ time, due to which he did not have sufficient time to apply his ideals to the max.

After facing Laos on Sunday, which will be Nepal’s 100th international game, the girls will face Sri Lanka on Wednesday and Uzbekistan on Saturday.