In the pre-match conference before facing Vietnam on Thursday, Nepal’s head coach Matt Ross appeared confident. He believed that his team could win, and if not, at least secure a point. But Ross’s confidence turned out to be misjudged as Nepal suffered a 1-3 loss against the Southeast Asian side.

Vietnam had a loud home crowd at Go Dau Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City as they faced Nepal after over two decades. Nepal had lost 0-5 and 0-2 during the 2003 Asian Cup Qualifiers in the last two encounters.

Forgetting the past, Nepal were aiming for a turnaround after 23 years. But that was not to be.

Nguyen Tien Linh gave Vietnam the lead in the 10th minute, offering thousands of home fans a good moment to cheer. According to officials, there were 8,597 fans in attendance at the stadium. But the happiness did not last long for the home fans as Sanish Shrestha equalised for Nepal seven minutes later.

But, despite levelling the score quickly, Nepal could not put pressure on Vietnam, who were aggressive with the attack. Nepal’s skipper and goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong was the busiest player for the visiting side.

Chemjong was jumping to punch the ball outside his zone, diving to push the ball away from the frame and grabbing some good shots by the Vietnamese players.

Ross, who was shown a yellow in the 25th minute, had his players play defensively against the consistent attacking from Vietnam. But Nepal were still struggling.

Further, when Nguen Hai Long was about to shoot by taking the ball inside the 18-yard box, Nepal’s prolific midfielder and No 10 Laken Limbu pushed him. As a result of fouling the player with the chance for a goal, Limbu was sent outside with a red card in 45+2 minutes.

Nepal, somehow, were able to keep the score level as the referee blew the whistle to mark the end of the first half. But the Gorkhalis had a higher mountain to climb as they were down by a man with a whole second half left to play.

And as expected, Chemjong was busier still in the remaining 45 minutes of play. He had saved the shots in the 67th and 72nd minutes, but Pham Xuan Manh and Nguen Van Vi were there to capitalise on the rebounds, respectively, and take the score to 3-1.

Ross made all five substitutions by the 85th minute. But the fresh legs could not help out. Kushal Deuba made his debut for the national side as he was the final substitute, replacing Ayush Ghalan.

“I am happy for donning the national jersey,” Deuba said after the match. “But the pain of the loss is bigger. We could have done better.”

Nepal will now face Vietnam on October 14.