Bimal Thapa Magar, Ananta Tamang and Anjan Bista played starring roles and their value was evident by the fact that they have now cemented their place in the senior national team. Fast forward four years and another SAFF U-18 title in 2017 [renamed as U-18 event], Nepal hosted the SAFF U-18 Championship this month. But after an underwhelming performance on the field, Nepal crashed out of the group stage with a draw and a defeat. It was a below-par performance for the two-time champions.

Nepal drew their first match against Maldives 1-1 despite holding the majority of possession and posing more threat in front of their opponent's goal. After a cagey first half, they made numerous attempts on goal in the second half. Nepal had around half-a-dozen attempts on target in the second half.

After finding the equalizer in the 74th minute through Manish Dangi, they were pressing hard for the opposition team to commit a mistake so as to find the winning goal. But the winning goal never came as Maldives hold firm to share the spoils.

Nepal hoped to put an improved performance in a must-win match against Bhutan to keep their semi-finals hopes alive. Shrestha knew Bhutan had raised their level. Still, no one had anticipated the final outcome as Bhutan romped to a 3-0 victory.

The defeat all but ended Nepal’s semi-finals hopes. Nepal formally signed off from the tournament on Tuesday when Bhutan and Maldives played a goalless draw in the last group game. Nepal crashed out without a victory and with just one goal to their credit. Bhutan and Maldives advanced to the semi-finals.

In the lead up to the tournament, Shrestha had taken his team to Pokhara to fine-tune their preparations. “The boys had trained well in Pokhara. Our forwards and midfielders were good,” said Shrestha. But the performance against Maldives and Bhutan told completely different story.

One reason for such underperformance, Shrestha believed, was because of the ground conditions. But that applied to both the teams competing in the match. Following the draw against Maldives, Shrestha said the pitch was soft and it made life difficult for their players. “We had trained on hard ground. It is difficult to maintain the pace in such a soft ground while running with the ball,” he said. Maldives coach Shazly Mohamed also sided with his Nepali counterpart. “We had trained on turf pitch. We only trained for a few weeks on grass,” said Shazly.

Football analyst Sanjeev Mishra also believes the soft ground could be one of the reasons for Nepal’s poor display. “Our players failed to adapt to the surface. The rain further worsened the condition,” he said. But the rain was not the only factor to be blamed for. “Performance was below par. Players did not play to their standards,” said Mishra.

One player, in particular, drew more attention in the lead up to the tournament. Forward Manish Dangi had played the U-17 football in South Korea and was touted as Nepal’s next-generation star. But he had a poor outing. “He was nervous playing for Nepal. He also played as attacking midfielder in South Korea and was returning deep into the midfield. He was unable to adjust to the tactical change,” said coach Shrestha. Dangi’s return to midfield meant when the ball was pushed forward there was no striker to trouble the opposition goal.

After winning the tournament in 2015, Tamang, Bista and Gharti Magar had gone on to become senior team’s mainstay. In fact, it was Bista’s brace which secured a 2-0 victory against Chinese Taipei in their joint FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup Group 'B' Qualifiers. Nepal badly missed the likes of the trio this time around as was evident by the results.

Unlike their predecessors the current crop of players simply failed to rise to the occasion, unable to pass the first hurdle: the league stage. The coach should also be accountable for the poor showing considering that he was leading the two-time champions. Coach Shrestha took the blame for his team’s poor performance and is preparing to resign on Wednesday. But his resignation and acceptance alone will not resolve the problem. Its high time that All Nepal Football Association—the football governing body—identify reasons for such a dismal showing to ensure Nepal do not repeat the same performance in two years time.