Nepal announce 25-man squad for India friendlies

Nepal’s national team is training at Pokhara to prepare for the two friendly matches against India

The Indian national team will play two friendly matches against Nepal on September 2 and 5 at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Blue Tigers are currently training in Kolkata and will reach Nepal on August 30 via New Delhi. 

They have already played two friendly games against IFA XI (1-0 win) and Mohammedan Sporting (2-0 with Farukh Chowdhury and Akash Mishra scoring) respectively. Igor Stimac’s men will be getting back in action after their World Cup qualifiers where they finished third on the table with seven points from eight games. 

Nepal Squad for India friendlies

Nepal’s head coach Abdullah Almutairi has named 25 players for the two games against India. He has included four goalkeepers in the squad including Kiran Limbu who is a familiar face in the Indian domestic circuit. The following members have been named: 

Goalkeepers : Kiran Kumar Limbu, Deep Karki, Bishal Shrestha, Bikesh Kuthu 

Defenders:   Ananta Tamang, Dinesh Rajbanshi, Gautam Shrestha,  Rohit Chand,  Suman Aryal, Rajan Gurung, Kamal Thapa

Midfielders : Ayush Ghalan, Bishal Rai, Nitin Thapa, Pujan Uperkoti, Santosh Tamang, Sujal Shrestha, Sunil Bal, Suraj Jeu Thakuri, Tej Tamang

Forwards : Aashish Lama, Anjan Bista, Manish Dangi, Nawayug Shrestha, Suman Lama

The 29-year old Rohit Chand has played in India for HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) in 2012. He currently plies his trade in Persija Jakarta. 

However, Almutairi has chosen to exclude Arpan Karki and forwards Sishir Lekhi and Abhishek Rijal. Rijal is another player who has played in India for Mohammedan Sporting and Aizawl FC respectively. 

Nepal are preparing for the SAFF Championship set to be held in October and after the two friendlies with 

What next for Nepal football team after the India friendlies?

After the two friendlies with India, the Nepal team will fly to Doha on September 10 for a training camp before the SAFF Championship. On September 27 they will fly into Male, Maldives to take part in the tournament which is scheduled to start on October 1. 

Nepal will play against hosts Maldives in the opening match on October 1. They will take on Sri Lanka three days later followed by a match against India on October 10 and Bangladesh on October 13.

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