National football team leaves for Bangladesh

Kathmandu / December 15: Nepal National Football team on Tuesday left for Dhaka in Bangladesh to play a friendly match before the start of the SAFF Championship in India.

The team will play a friendly on December 17 in Dhaka and leave for Kerala in India for the SAFF Championship, according to All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) Acting Chairman Narendra Shrestha. The team was seen off amidst a programme held in the capital city. The SAFF Championship will kick off on December 23.

Nepal will play its opening match against Sri Lanka on December 23 and against host India on December 27. National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Keshav Kumar Bista also wished success for the team at the farewell ceremony. National team skipper Anil Gurung expressed confidence the team would give a superb performance.

National team Head Coach, Patrick Aussems said the Nepal would bring good results. Nepal, after securing the third spot in 1993, has failed to make into the finals of the championship.

Nepal, India, Afghanistan, the Maldives, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are competing for the SAFF Championship title. Nepal, which has been pitted in Group ‘A’, will have to secure a spot in the top two to make it into the semi-finals. RSS