Nepal U16 Prepare for Tough Task at Dasarath Rangashala

Nepal will face a tough group to go through when they face Turkmenistan, Bahrain and Iraq in the group C of the qualifiers.

Nepal U16 team greet fans after win over Pakistan in SAFF u16 at Dasarath Rangashala

Having fielded in  a tough group, Nepal will have home support to enjoy which keeps the hope to make it to the final round of the tournament which will be played in Thailand. The top group winners from 10 groups and 5 second best teams will make it to Thailand to join the hosts in 2014, while four semifinalist in the final round will participate in FIFA U17 world cup 2015 qualifiers.

Bahrain and Iraq remain two heavyweights while Turkmenistan has made to the final cut of the tournament one time in 2008 passing through qualifiers where they lost all their three group matches. Meanwhile Nepal has two entries in the final level of the tournament when the event was played as U17 tournament. Nepal has only been able to consider 1 draw in seven matches played so far in the final round of the tournament but has never succeeded to qualify in the finals since 2008 when the tournament was played on a qualification basis.

Meanwhile Iraq remains the heavyweight of the group, making their way to the semifinal in previous edition played in 2012. Iraq topped their group and won Kuwait in the quarterfinals before they lost 2-3 to the AFC U16 champions Uzbekistan in the semi final.

No doubt, Nepal will face a tough task to stay ahead in the group but the home support  and some of the experience ahead could help the hosts to make it to the final round of the tournament.

Bimal Gharti Magar’s experience with the National Team and some of the player’s participation in a closed camp with seniors would certainly be a plus point , recent SAFF U16 tournament might have brought good shape to the U16 team who had already played friendly matches with senior teams, Pakistan National Team, U19 team, Three Star club and many other high level teams and performed exceptionally above expectations.

Nepal will start its campaign  against Bahrain on 25 September at Dasarath Rangashala in the fixture and will face Iraq and Turkmenistan eventually later in the group.