Dasharath Rangashala
Kathmandu
Poor Refereeing
The U16 national captain Heman Gurung took the responsibility on the losing as his spot kick on was comfortably saved by the Indian Keeper. Nepalese team were continuously under pressure as they were robbed in the dying moment of the match. The dreams of playing in the final were then shattered in the penalties. Two of the Nepalese players missed the kicks. The match was very physical and two of Nepal's players including the keeper had sustained the injury. Nepalese team and whole stadium were disgruntled with the referee's decisions. Indian team survived lot of occasion due to poor refereeing. The ANFA officials later discussed their frustrations on the officials. But the damage was done.
Bright future for the boys: Graham Roberts
There was a massive support and environment inside the stadium and the stadium erupted with the first goal in the first third of the match. The national coach applauded the team for their performance whether they did not reached the final or not. The veteran English Player knows the life of a player and addressed that Nepalese young players have a bright future ahead in their footballing career. Nepal has been performing significant well but hasn't been able to turn them into trophies in recent past. But, we can still salvage the third place today.
Now Bronze medal on sights
Nepal will play today against Bangladesh in the third place playoff. Sadly both Nepal and Bangladesh have to meet on different match instead of the match for gold medal. The match between Bangladesh and Pakistan was also tight until the last 10 minutes. The Banglas conceded two goals between last ten minutes. It will be a tough match between the sides as they vie for the bronze medal today. Pakistan which was previously managed by Graham Roberts has been the only team to win all the matches in this tournament. The Pakistan Football Federation has announced a tour of England for training matches. This shows even the cricket nation is taking major steps in growing the footballing prospects and that is showing signs in U16 level too.
Best of Luck Nepal U16
By:Ram Gurung
Columnist, Nepalifootball.com
By:Ram Gurung
Columnist, Nepalifootball.com
