Chhetri of Three Star and Shrestha and Gurung of Himalayan Sherpa were excluded from the list of 25 players announced by All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) on Tuesday. [break]
Thirty-six players were initially selected for the training, while 28 players from among them were shortlisted for the second phase of training on February 2. The final squad comprising either 23 or 20 players is likely to be announced next week.
"We have not finalized the exact number of players for the final list. We can include 23 players but we are yet to decide whether to name 20 or 23 players in the final list," said Lalit Krishna Shrestha, the vice-president and spokesperson of ANFA.
Army players Tanka Basnet, Tek Bahadur Budhathoki and Nawayug Shrestha were called up to the national team training camp for the first time along with Jeetendra Karki of New Road Team (NRT) and Sabindra Shrestha of Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC). Basnet, Budhathoki and Nawayug are midfielders while Karki and Sabindra are defenders.
Similarly, Nepal Police Club midfielder Parbat Pandey has also been included in the closed-camp training. The veteran player had last appeared in the national jersey during the 2008 Challenge Cup finals.
Bikash Singh Chhetri had made his debut with the national team during a friendly match against Pakistan in 2008, but he has not been a regular player of the national team since then. Chhetri has won eight caps and scored an international goal against Bhutan during an international friendly in March 2011.
"There were nine defenders in the training camp and Chhetri´s performance in the National League was not satisfactory. Though he worked hard in the training, I had to take a decision," coach Graham Roberts told Republica.
Jagjeet Shrestha was included in the national team for the first time by coach Roberts during a friendly match against Bhutan in 2011. He had been a regular member of the national squad since then. He has won seven caps and scored an international goal against East Timor during the World Cup Qualifiers held in Kathmandu in 2011.
Regarding Shrestha´s exclusion, Roberts said, "Shrestha could not perform up to the national team standards during the training. Besides, he doesn´t have a good attitude."
Gurung, a non-residential Nepali, was called up to the training after his very first appearance in domestic football during the National League that concluded some three weeks ago. He succeeded to impress the British coach, but could not register his name as he lost his passport.
"Gurung might have made it to the final phase of training had he not lost his passport. The deadline for registering players´ names expires Wednesday and he cannot produce his passport within the deadline."
Regarding the AFC Challenge Cup, the 52-year-old Briton said, "It´s tougher than the SAFF Championship, so we are preparing accordingly. We are training twice a day and now we are focusing more on fitness training."
"Our target is to beat the Maldives and Palestine during the group stage and make it through to the semifinals," Roberts shared. Turkmenistan is the other team in Group A that includes Nepal, while Group B comprises DPR Korea, India, Tajikistan and the Philippines.
Players selected for closed-camp
Goalkeepers: Kiran Chemjong, Bikash Malla, Ritesh Thapa
Defenders: Sagar Thapa, Sandip Rai, Rohit Chand, Rabin Shrestha, Biraj Maharjan, Sabindra Shrestha, Dipak Bhusal, Jeetendra Karki
Midfielders: Raju Tamang, Nirajan Khadka, Bhola Silwal, Bijay Gurung, Parbat Pandey, Tek Bahadur Budhathoki, Tanka Basnet, Nawayug Shrestha
Forwards: Bharat Khawas, Anil Gurung, Santosh Sahukhala, Jumanu Rai, Ganesh Lawati, Sujal Shrestha
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