Middle East nation Palestine will be the first obstacle in the way of host Nepal on Thursday afternoon at the Dasharath Stadium where the match will begin after a short inauguration ceremony. [break]
FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter is scheduled to formally inaugurate the qualifying round.
Both Nepal and Palestine will be eying a win during their first match of group stage. In the four team group stage match, a victory in the first match shall boost their confidence and the chances of entering the next stage.
"Our dream is to win the Challenge Cup title and return home with the trophy," said Abdallah Alforao, manager of Palestinian team and head of delegates of the team. "Nepal is good and strong team and we respect them," said Palestine coach Jamal Mahmoud during the pre-match press conference.
Nepal´s British coach Graham Roberts has set an initial target of making it into the semifinal. "Our objective is to make it into semifinal," Roberts said adding, "The expectation from the team is high."
Looking at the past, Nepal has played only once against Palestine during the 2009 Challenge Cup qualifiers in 2009. On that occasion, Nepal had played goalless draw. Nepal however failed to qualify for the final stage.
The host Nepal will have home advantage and home crowd against the visitors. "We will be boosted by the presence of home supporters," Roberts said.
As part of preparation for the Challenge Cup, Palestine has played five matches. Palestine played two matches in Dubai and one against Azerbaijan.
According to Palestine manager Alforao some members of his side play professional football in top flight clubs of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Poland and Chile. Three vital members of the team have been suspended from the AFC tournament and only one among them is included in the current squad whose suspension will end after playing against Nepal. "The suspension will not affect the team much," Mahmoud said.
Nepali team has been undergoing training at home since the beginning of February and has played some practice matches with local teams. "We have sound preparations and the players have played continuously since last 18 months," said Roberts who has high expectations from his defenders.
"We have got plans and have worked as per planning during the training," Roberts said who has revealed of playing 5-3-2 formation which will go into 3-4-3 formation. Roberts has said that none of the team in group A was a favorite and all have equal chances of moving into semifinal.
Nepal succeeded in securing semifinal berth of Challenge Cup only once during the first edition of Challenge Cup. However, there was no qualifying match in the 16-team contest and Nepal crashed out of the semifinal on the occasion.
In 2008, Nepal qualified for the final rounds of Challenge Cup, but crashed out of the group stage. Two years later, Nepal crashed out from qualifying round at home.
In other match on Thursday at the Halchowk ground, Turkmenistan will take on Maldives.
Meanwhile, the teams in group B are Korea, India, Tajikistan and Philippines.
Coaches Say
Hans Michael Weiss (Philippines): We started preparing for the final round of Challenge Cup from January. But we have had sound training only for the last 10 days. All the players were not available for training as they were playing professional football abroad. Some members of the squad are playing professional football in Iceland and Netherlands while our Goalkeeper will be arriving here tonight (Wednesday). North Korea is the favorite of the group.
Savio Medeira (India): We started preparations since 16th February in Dubai and the preparation was good. We played three friendly matches, one each against Oman, Azerbaijan and a local team. We are confident of putting up a good show. Every team have arrived here to win the title. We came here four days prior to the tournament for acclimatization. North Korea is the favorite of the group.
Kemal Alispahic (Tajikistan): We have been working hard for the last 20 days. I hope the team will put up a good show in the tournament. The group is tough and every team will try to win the title. Any outcome can be expected from any team.
North Korea (Yun Jong Su): We are undergoing training camp since February. As part of preparations for the tournament we played friendly against Kuwait and the match ended in 1-1 draw. Our target is to become the champion and qualify for the Asian Cup. We have no pressure and will do our best to achieve target.
Maldives (Istvan Urbanyi): We could not prepare well as we had short training of only 10 days. We are ready for the tournament and aim to qualify for the semifinal. Both Nepal and Maldives are trying to take their football to next stage.
Turkmenistan (Yazguly Hojageldiyev): We have made good preparations and played five friendly matches with European teams. In total, we played seven matches with strong opponents and those matches will be helpful for us in the tournament. Every team has arrived here to win and we aim for no less.
(Nepal, Turkmenistan, Maldives and Palestine are in group A and group B consist of North Korea, India, Tajikistan and Philippines)
Nepal´s probable starting line up
Goalkeeper: Kiran Chemjong
Defenders: Robin Shrestha, Sagar Thapa (C), Sandip Rai, Rohit Chand, Biraj Maharjan
Midfielders: Bharat Khawas, Raju Tamang, Nirajan Khadka
Forwards: Jumanu Rai, Anil Gurung
Related story
UN General Assembly adopts resolutions in favor of Palestine
