Nepal suffered a 1-0 defeat against hosts Kuwait in their second international friendly match played in Kuwait on Monday.

The first friendly between the two teams on Saturday had ended in a goalless draw. Yousef Naseer netted the all-important goal for the home team in the 29th minute through penalty after Sujal Shrestha tripped Kuwaiti player inside the area. Similar to the first match, Kuwait dominated the game and kept Nepal under intense pressure. But Nepal goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong made some excellent saves to prevent Kuwait from scoring more goals.

The matches against Kuwait were the first assignment of Nepal’s Swedish coach Johan Kalin, who took over the team on February 1. The Swede lamented on conceding a needless penalty. “We gave the opponents tough fight and the games were benificial in identifying our weaknesses. I believe we are weaker in set pieces as well as poor up front,” Kalin said.

Nepal played against Kuwait in the absence of six regular players including forward Bimal Gharti Magar, wingers Anjan Bista, Sunil Bal and defenders Ananta Tamang, Dinesh Rajbanshi and Kamal Shrestha. Nepal  arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday. All Nepal Football Association President Karma Tsering Sherpa among others welcomed the team.