Nepal, languishing at the 179th place in the Fifa world ranking, will take on the mighty Philippines, who are 50 spots above them and coach Jack Stefanowski is confident his team will fare better. Nepal had lost 3-0 against Philippines in a friendly play in April under coach Raju Kaji Shakya. However, Stefanowski is of the belief that the exposure his boys received in the Asian Games against top Asian teams like Japan and Iraq to add to the new faces and good training will be instrumental in producing a better result against the opponents this time around.

“We have picked up some of the boys who played in the Asian Games and the experience of playing in Incheon coupled with good training will help my boys put on a good show,” said the coach prior to their departure. In the 24-member Nepali squad that headed for Doha, Anjan Bista, Ananta Tamang and Dinesh Rajbanshi have been called in the national fold for the first time.

Stefanowski also added that the rigorous training and a few friendly matches against higher ranked teams were a part of Nepal’s preparation for the 2015 SAFF Championship. “Our ultimate goal is the SAFF Championship and all the hard work and friendly matches in between will be the build up towards that,” said that coach, who is in his second stint as the head coach of Nepal.

Skipper Sagar Thapa is setting his eyes on improve his team’s ranking. “Last month we stumbled in our ranking and we have to improve that with a good show against a high ranked nations,” said Thapa. The Nepal skipper added that the experience of playing against Japan and Iraq in the Asian Games will help fare well against Philippines.