Nepal vs Afghanistan Preview and Head to Head – SAFF Championship Semifinal

Host Nepal will play Afghanistan in first semifinal of the SAFF Championship 2013 as they look for historic move in Nepalese Football. 

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Nepal have a perfect opportunity to avenge their sour defeat suffered on the previous edition in the hands of Afghanistan. Nepal were down in the extra time when Afghanistan number 9 Balal Arezou stroked heart breaking goal to deny Nepal’s entrance into the final.

Afghanistan coach Yousef Kargar hoped to avoid Nepal at any cost in the semifinals considering Nepal’s momentum and great home support but a stalemate played against Maldives means they are the group runner ups in a goal difference and will face Group A winners Nepal on Sunday.

Nepal started the tournament in a greater note with 2-0 victory over Bangladesh in which Anil Gurung and Bharat Khawas stroked Nepal victory while the second match  against Pakistan remained draw where Nepal came back from a goal to end up tied, thanks to extra time goal from 15 years and 11 months old SAFF Championship debutant Bimal Gharti Magar. The third and the final group match remained remarkable for Nepal after a victory over India came for the first time in a 20 years time frame. Anil Gurung and Jumanu Rai scored for Nepal to give stable lead which made Nabi’s extra time goal meaningless.

Group Stage

Group A	Group B
Team PL W L D G P Nepal 3 2 0 1 +3 7 India 3 1 1 1 0 4 Pakistan 3 1 1 1 0 4 Bangladesh 3 0 2 1 -3 1	Team PL W L D G PO Maldives 3 2 0 1 +16  7 Afghanistan 3 2 0 1 +5  7 Sri Lanka 3 1 2 0 -9  0 Bhutan 3 0 3 0 -6  0

Host Nepal have been great in the group stage which makes them the group winners. With a change of formation to 4-4-1-1, Nepal looks comfortable with new formation which found them 5 goals in three matches conceding only two.

Afghanistan recently have been cautious about Balal Arezou’s form who have not been able to deliver for the 2011 finalist. Although Afghanistan found positive five goal difference, they failed to impress with all goals coming over underdogs Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

Injuries and Suspensions

Both teams are free from suspension as Nepal has done a good job to find very few yellow cards while Afghanistan caoch Yousef Kargar was fully aware of the situation because of which he rested Ashar Ahmed against Maldives.

Nepal has some injury problems with the likes of Jagjeet Shrestha unable to perform to his caliber. He has been unable to feature full time which is really a trouble to Nepal but coach Jack Stefanowski has done very well to rotate the substitutions to balance the team. Bhola Silwal and Sandip Rai both skipped training on Saturday not to sustain further more injuries.

Predicted Lineup – Nepal

Raju Tamang was too quick to give away possession to the opponent while Bikram Lama who took his place as a sub was fine enough to balance the heart of the midfield which means Bikram Lama could start ahead of Raju.

Kiran Chemjong, Biraj Maharjan, Sagar Thapa, Sandip Rai, Rabin Shrestha, Rohit Chand, Bikram Lama, Bhola Silwal, Bharat Khawas, Anil Gurung, Jumanu Rai

Head to Head

Nepal has won Afghanistan 3 times in all 5 official appearances but the modern Afghanistan team has always been threat to their opponents.

2003: 13th Asian Cup Qualifiers: 4-0 WON

2008: Mardeka Cup (Invitational): 2-2 DRAWN

2009: Sixth SAFF Championship: 3-0 WON

2011: Fourth AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers: 1-0 WON

2011: Seventh SAFF Championship semi-final: 0-1 LOSS

Nepal vs Afghanistan SAFF 2011 Highlights