All Nepal Football Association (Anfa) on Tuesday announced a 30-member Nepali squad for a 10-day tour of Japan.
The team includes most of the national team members that played against Yemen in the AFC Asia Cup Championship Qualifiers in June on home turf. The team, which leaves for Japan on August 11 where they play five matches against local teams/universities, comprises of 24 players and six officials. First choice goalkeeper Kiran Limbu, midfielder Rohit Chand and defender Aditya Chaudhary will be absentees from the tour that played against Yemen on June 13. Limbu is plying his trade in Maldives for TC Sports while Chand is playing in the Indonesian top-tier league Persija Jakarta. Chaudhary is nursing his knee injury.
Goalkeeper Bishal Shrestha, defender Bimal Basnet, midfielder Bikram Lama and forward Suman Lama are the newcomers. According to Anfa, the tour was part of Nepal’s preparations for the next match against Tajikistan to be held on September 5 in Halchowk, Kathmandu. Nepal are draw in Group ‘F’ of the home and away double round robin format along with Yemen, Philippines and Tajikistan. Nepal lost 4-1 in Philippines and played 0-0 draw against Yemen in Kathmandu.
Nepal will play against the U-23 team of Gamba Osaka and U-18 team of Vissel Kobe, the top-tier Japanese league, on August 13 and 19. They will also vie with Kwansei Gakuin University on August 16, Amitie Sports Club on August 17, Hanan University on August 18. Japanese national Gyotoku Koji is the head coach and Raju Kaji Shakya his assistant in the tour. Ujwal Manandhar is the goalkeeping coach while Raju Dangol is the team doctor and Roshan the interpreter.
The tour was managed by Ministry of Foreign Affair of Japan and Japan Football Association, said Anfa.
10.12°C Kathmandu
