Opportunity to check caliber

POKHARA, March 17: A rejuvenated Bhutan national football team is eager to prove that it is all prepared for a playoff with Afghanistan for the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers when they take on Nepal in a friendly at Pokhara Stadium on Thursday. Nepal too are determined to keep up their domination over the Druks.



Bhutan are in Nepal to play two friendly matches as a part of their preparation for the Challenge Cup match scheduled to be held against Afghanistan on March 23 and 25 in New Delhi, India. [break]



The winner of the playoff will qualify for the group D qualifiers of the cup to be held in Kathmandu from April 7 to 11. Hosts Nepal, Sri Lanka, North Korea and one among Bhutan and Afghanistan will join the group.



Not only to Bhutan, the match will be valuable for Nepal as well since Nepal are also preparing for the qualifiers to be played on the home ground. For both the teams, the match will be a test of their caliber.



A win for underdogs Bhutan will be a historic achievement, as historically they have always lost against Nepal. On the other hand, Nepal will be looking forward to continue their glorious past.



The Druks are visiting Nepal after a decade. The last time they visited Nepal was in the Coca Cola International Invitational Cup in 2000. The Druks, supervised by Japanese coach Hiroaki Matsuyama, are optimistic that the results would be in their favor. The 43-year coach said that his side would put up best performance and beat the Nepali team. "We are well prepared but the climate here is different. Otherwise, we are sure to win."



"We have not fixed our playing strategy but we will have one after seeing the opponents´ game," Matsuyama said, adding, "I have heard that Nepali players perform well on the ground."



On the other hand, Nepal are expecting an easy win over the Druks. Nepal´s coach Graham Roberts said he is confident that his team would beat Bhutan. "Though I don´t know about the Bhutan side, we are optimistic of winning as we have trained well," said the 51-year old Briton, who has been looking after the team since February 1.



Graham said that he had taken the opportunity of friendly matches to set the team rather than concentrating on win or loss. "We are working on offensive strategy," Roberts elaborated.



Two new faces are likely to debut against Bhutan. According to sources, Anil Ojha and Shiva Shrestha are likely to make their first appearance for the national side.

Meanwhile, the international football governing body FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have given official approval to the friendly matches, making them significant from the point of view of FIFA rankings. Nepal ranks 172nd and Bhutan 197th in FIFA rankings.



Probable starting lineup:

Goalkeeper: Kiran Chemjong

Defenders: Sagar Thapa (C), Rohit Chand, Biraj Maharjan, Rabin Shrestha

Midfielders: Raju Tamang, Nirajan Khadka, Anil Ojha, Shiva Shrestha

Forwards: Anil Gurung, Santosh Sahukhala



Head-to-head



Dhaka, Bangladesh SAF Games (1985) (Nepal 1-0 Bhutan)

Kolkata, India SAF Games (1987) (Nepal 6-2 Bhutan)

Kathmandu SAF Games (1999) (Nepal  7-0 Bhutan)

Asian Cup Qualifiers, Kuwait (2000) (Nepal  3-0 Bhutan)

Dhaka, Bangladesh SAFF Championship (2003) (Nepal 2-0 Bhutan)

SAFF Championship, Karachi, Pakistan (2005) (Nepal 3-1 Bhutan)

AFC Challenge Cup, Chittagong, Bangladesh (2006) (Nepal 2-0 Bhutan)

Friendly, Kolkata, India (2009) (Nepal 2-1 Bhutan)

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