Nepal will come out firing in all cylinders to create history and make their way to the final against Afghanistan in the first semi-final of the Saff Championship at the Dasarath Stadium at 6:45pm today.
The charged up hosts, Nepal, has not featured in a final of the Saff Championship till date.
Nepal will relish the opportunity to avenge their sour defeat suffered at the hands of Afghanistan in the previous edition of the event at Delhi when Afghanistan handed them a 1-0 defeat to book a place in the final. Jack Stefanowski, the coach of Nepal cautioned his team about any complacency. “We are in the most crucial stage of the meet and we need just a win to be in the final. The situation is expected to be tougher than anticipation as Afghanistan is the highest ranked team,” said Stefanowski.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan coach Yousef Kargar is not taking the hosts lightly and poured respect on his opponents. “Nepal is a very strong team technically and in terms of speed. Nepal also has the home ground advantage. However, we’ll also try to reach that point,” said the coach of the top-ranked South Asian country.
“In the semis we missed chances, but played good football. We maintained superior ball possession and we were technically sound. We want to continue that,” said the Afghanistan coach.