On June 10 last year, Laos turned the tables against Nepal during their 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers-Third Round’s first leg fixture.

The Gorkhalis had entered the ground as the favourites, having never lost to Laos in their last six encounters. However, the result ended in Laos’ favour as Nepal lost 1-2.

Nepal and Laos first met in a friendly on May 29, 2016, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Nepal then defeated Laos four times and drew once more until the upset last year.

Now, Nepal and Laos are meeting again, in the second leg fixture of the Asian Qualifiers, at New Laos National Stadium, in Vientiane on Tuesday.

Laos are determined to defeat Nepal again. Meanwhile, the travellers are also looking forward to proveing themselves. They will not just seek to respond to the previous defeat, but a win over Laos would also call more attention to the worrying state of Nepali football—from irregular domestic leagues to a suspended footballing body and an international stadium.

The Nepal vs Laos fixture will also be the debut match with their respective teams for the coaches.

Guglielmo Arena, an Italian-Swiss citizen, joined as the head coach of Nepal on March 12. Vladica Grujic, a Serbian, was appointed as Laos’ head coach on February 20. Both are UEFA pro coaches.

And they both had some common things to say in the pre-match conference on Monday: that they had prepared for the match for the last two weeks and that they were playing to win.

A different approach

Arena made a clear statement in his first press conference at the ANFA Complex in Lalitpur on March 13. “We are already out of the qualification for the AFC Asian Cup,” he said. “It will be very interesting to try something against them.”

By them, Arena meant Hong Kong and Laos. The new head coach did not get to try anything against Hong Kong, as the Nepal-Hong Kong friendly on March 26 was cancelled. But the fans can finally watch Arena’s style of football against Laos.

“We are already disqualified from the Asian Cup,” Arena said in the pre-match conference. “The match will be a little bit different from when we have to face teams to qualify or earn points. We have prepared ourselves to do our best, to make the Nepali fans happy.”

Arena also seemed confident about trying something different against Laos, as he has witnessed their football first-hand. Arena was appointed the head coach of Laos in June 2023. He left in September 2023.

“I left Laos due to some problems,” Arena said on March 13. “But I believe they are doing well with a new coach.”

New players

The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), the national footballing body currently under suspension from the National Sports Council (NSC), sent the Nepali team to Laos in secrecy on Saturday.

While the domestic and international footballing activities have suffered the tremors of the tussle between ANFA and NSC, the match between Nepal and Laos was also at risk.

But the list of 23 players in the squad facing Laos, which was revealed on Sunday evening, suggests that Arena has been allowed to do his job freely by ANFA.

The squad does not have Anjan Bista, Nepal’s joint-highest leading scorer in men’s football, while some other old faces have also been replaced.

There are five players in the squad who have been called for national duty for the first time: Yogesh Dhimal, Roman Bhujel, Pemba Dorje Lama, Milan Rai and Yubaraj Khadka.

“Arena will be given complete freedom to select players,” ANFA’s Technical Director Hari Khadka said while revealing Arena as the head coach on March 13.

Arena arrived in Nepal around a week before his official appointment. He could be seen in the National League matches, scouting players.

Dhimal, Bhujel, Lama, Rai and Khadka have been showing great promise in the ongoing National League. Dhimal is securing the goalline for Planning Boyz United, while the others are scoring goals.

Khadka and Rai have six goals each for APF and Church Boys United, respectively. Bhujel has three goals for Planning Boyz, while Lama has been able to score only one for Army.

“We have tried to bring in new players,” said Arena, citing that they could be effective in the match against Laos.

Similarly, Nepal’s skipper Kiran Chemjong also believes in the new talents. “Our boys, with new players, have prepared mentally and physically,” he said in the pre-match. “When we faced Laos previously, it was not a good result…We are positive for the next match.”

Another home fixture on foreign soil

Nepal were drawn with Jordan in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualification-AFC Second Round. Nepal lost 0-9 when they travelled to Amman, Jordan, in the first leg on July 23, 2011. But when Nepal hosted Jordan for the second leg, five days later, the match ended in a 1-1 draw at Dasharath Stadium.

The draw, after a stinging loss only a few days ago, was said to be a result of home advantage for the Nepali team.

“I recently read a scientific study that covered all types of sport and what came out was that home teams are still favourites to win games, and not because of the motivational factor of the players but purely because of the support of the crowd,” Arsene Wenger, the then Arsenal’s manager, said in an interview to a club’s channel in October 2015. “It was a simple conclusion—it’s the home support that gives the advantage to the team.”

However, Nepal have not been able to utilise the home advantage since February 2024, after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) suspended Dasharath Stadium, Nepal’s only international-standard stadium, from hosting international matches.

As a result, Nepal could not host Bahrain and the UAE for the home fixtures in the AFC Asian Cup Qualification Second Round on March 26, 2024, and June 6, 2024, respectively.

After getting eliminated to the Third Round, in which Nepal have Malaysia, Vietnam and Laos in Group F, the Gorkhalis continued playing their home fixtures on foreign soil.

Nepal travelled to Vietnam and Malaysia on October 14 and November 18 last year for their home fixture, as there was no AFC-certified stadium in the country to host those matches. And Nepal are missing the chance to play in front of the home crowd again, against Laos on Tuesday.

Nepal lost to Bahrain, the UAE, Malaysia and Vietnam in all those instances.

“It is not great to play the home fixtures on foreign soil,” Chemjong said before the team flew to Singapore and Malaysia in March last year.

Laos, meanwhile, are looking to capitalise on the home advantage.

Lao Football Federation’s Facebook page suggests that Laos have been promoting the Nepal vs Laos fixture in an extensive manner, requesting fans to turn out at the 25,000-capacity National Stadium in the capital city of Vientiane.

“Nepal are ranked a bit higher than us,” Laos’ head coach Grujic said in the pre-match. Laos are currently ranked 191st, and Nepal are 175th in the FIFA Men’s Ranking. “But we are ready to win.”

The match kicks off at 5:45pm Nepali time, and can be watched on FIFA+.