Nepal taking on mighty Jordan Saturday

Jordan has played 1-1 draw against Japan, defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 and beat Syria 2-1 in the first round of the Asian Cup. Jordan lost 2-1 to Uzbekistan in the Asian Cup quarterfinal. Recently, Jordan played 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan, 1-1 draw against Kuwait and identical draw against North Korea in friendlies.
All these facts show that Jordan is too mighty for Nepal.

However, Nepali team is motivated by its win against East Timor to book first ever second round berth in World Cup Qualifiers. Nepal has played seven matches in 2011 and lost one, drawn another and won five. Nepal defeated Bhutan twice in a friendly series, beat Afghanistan during the AFC Challenge Cup and then thrashed East Timor 2-1 and 5-0 in the first round of World Cup Qualifiers. Nepal had lost to North Korea 1-0 and played goalless draw against Sri Lanka.

Nepali team has gained a winning habit in 2011 but Jordan´s achievement in Asian Cup and against tough opponents should be obviously rated high.

Jordan is well prepared for this encounter and played friendly matches. On the other side, Nepali team trained only four days because of the ongoing Martyrs Memorial League.

After realizing all these facts, expecting Nepal´s victory against Jordan could be equivalent to expecting a surprise. Even All Nepal Football Association President Ganesh Thapa thinks so. “Jordan is stronger than us and preparing well. However, I´m hopeful that our players will continue their league form and confidence of our coach will make a difference to pull a stunning result against Jordan,” said Thapa during a farewell function held for the team on Thursday.

However, national team coach Graham Roberts is determined to throw a tough challenge against Jordan. “We´ll give our best. I´ve no doubt, boys will put in 150 percent effort on the ground,” said Roberts before flying to Jordan. “We´ll return from Jordan with good result and we´ll beat them here next week,” claimed the 53-year old Briton.

Saturday´s encounter is the first between the two Asian countries. The match is scheduled to kick off 21:45 NST.

Starting XI

Goalkeeper: Kiran Chemjong
Defenders: Bikash Singh Chhetri, Sagar Thapa, Sandeep Rai, Rohit Chand, Biraj Maharjan
Midfielders: Nirajan Khadka, Shiva Shrestha, Bhola Silwal
Forward: Jumanu Rai, Anil Gurung

2 comments:

jagdish khd said...

Best of luck to u all Players of Nepali team and play well.

jagdish khd said...

Best of luck to u all Players of Nepali team and play well.