The match will be vital for both the teams. A victory for Nepal is likely to seal their place in the final round while Sri Lanka, who practically have nothing to gain or lose from the match, will be playing for prestige as they have yet to open their account in the points table.[break]
With all four teams having played two matches each, defending champions DPR Korea, maintaining a 100 percent record, are atop the table with six points, while Nepal and Afghanistan share the second spot with three points each.
DPR Korea will play against Afghanistan at the Halchowk ground.
DPR Korea, Nepal and Afghanistan all have chances of qualifying for the next stage. However, the Koreans have an upper hand as a draw will be sufficient for them to advance into the next round as the group winners.
On the other hand, only a ´surprise´ result against the Koreans could send the Afghans through to the next stage.
The match will also be special for Nepal´s British coach Graham Roberts who is committed to securing victory in his last match as the head coach of Nepal´s national team, until further decision is taken regarding his future in Nepal.
“We have a big game tomorrow (Monday), and we will play to win,” the 51-year-old Briton told Republica. “If the boys gave the same effort as in the last two matches, no one could stop us from achieving victory.”
Similarly, Sri Lanka´s assistant coach Damodor Chandrashree is also not in the mood to give up. “We will do our best against Nepal,” he had said during a pre-tournament press conference.
Nepal are likely to play attacking football against the Lankans. Anil Gurung and Jumanu Rai will be entrusted with spearheading the attack.
Similarly, defender Rohit Chand, described as a world class player by Roberts, will be in action after a four-day rest. He will be accompanied by Biraj Maharjan, Sandeep Rai, Rabin Shrestha, and either Deepak Bhusal or Bikash Singh Chhetri in place of skipper Sagar Thapa. Thapa has a very slim chance of playing the next match after he picked injuries during Nepal´s last match against DPR Korea.
Similarly, Bhola Silwal, Nirajan Khadka, Bharat Khawas are sure to start in the midfield, but Roberts hinted that he could think about a replacement for Raju Tamang.
So far Nepal have played nine international matches against the Lankans. In their first six matches (1984-1997), the Lankans always dominated and emerged victorious. But in their last three meetings, Nepal have won twice and lost once in tie-breaker.
In their first encounter during the 1984 Asian Cup qualifiers Nepal were defeated 4-0 by the Lankans, while in their last encounter during the final round of AFC Challenge Cup, Nepal had a convincing 3-0 win over the Lankans.
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