Nepali U-16 football team qualifies for AFC U-16 Championship

Kathmandu / September 23: Nepali U-16 football team qualified for next year’s AFC U-16 Championship finals as one of the best four group runner-up in the recently held qualifiers in Kyrgyzstan.

Keshab Kumar Bista, member secretary of the National Sports Council, Ganesh Thapa, chairman of All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), and ANFA office bearers welcomed the team at the Tribhuvan International Airport while the team returned home. Football enthusiasts also welcomed the team. Becoming the runner-up in the AFC U-16 Championship Group ‘B’ Qualifiers held in Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, in the tournament earlier, had managed to grab two wins against Jordan 2-1 and the host Kyrgyzstan 4-2 while facing defeat to Oman 1-3.
Nepal’s qualification was confirmed only after host Kyrgyzstan beat Jordan 4-1 late Sunday evening in the last match of Group B during the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers that concluded at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

With the outcomes, Nepal finished Group B as runner-up, with Oman finishing top despite having equal six points to Nepal. Oman toppled Nepal both on head-to-head record and goal difference.

Nepal also became the only team from South Asia to make it to the last 16 besides India, which gained an automatic qualification as the host nation. Nepal had achieved the same feat in the last edition of the tournament as well.

According to Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Nepal secured place for the finals as the best fourth runner-up team of the Qualifiers. The junior age groups have been making good headways in the football and cricket. However the nation has not been able to spend necessary resources for the sports sector due to various problems. The need of the hour is to allocate sufficient resource to this sector and allow opportunity to the players to explore their potentials. The business community of the country could also play instrumental role for the development of this sector.