Can Nepal Win The South Asian Treble?
2015 is yet another ‘SAFF year’ in the men’s game, and Nepal is presented with the U16, U19, and Senior SAFF Championships. One of which is held on home soil. Does Nepal have what it takes to land all three titles, the ultimate treble, and secure their place in history?
Nepal’s youth level teams are on the surge, and with good reason too. With recent investment and improved coaching standards from international courses, it is clear that ANFA’s new scheme is working — and the proof is in the pudding! Nepal’s U12 and U14 performances in the regional Football Festivals/Fiestas and transition into U16 SAFF performances (reaching 3rd in 2011, and 2nd in 2013). Moreover, the current U19 side are made up of a star studded lineup of the likes of Bimal Gharti Magar, Anjan Bista, Ananta Tamang, Dinesh Rajbanshi, and Hermant Thapa.
This was the same team that reached 2nd place in the last edition of the SAFF U-16 Championship, and qualified for the finals tournament of the 2014 AFC U-16 Championship. Albeit, the side was marred in controversy for fielding overage players in the tournament. And as a result, this has largely tarnished the image of the sport and its development in Nepal.
Given the nature of such an impact, one would presume that ANFA may no longer field overage players by implementing the necessary background checks prior to registration and selection. So with this in mind, let’s assume this is the case for now.
The current U16 side have already qualified for the semi finals along with Afghanistan, and they play either India or Bangladesh based upon the result of the final group games on the 13th and 14th of August. India is without a doubt Nepal’s biggest threat, and therefore Nepal would want to avoid them until the finals if possible. However, if Nepal does indeed face India in the semi finals, I believe this will essentially be the title-decider match. And as such, will provide a good opportunity to finally produce a clear path to title victory.
Once the players of the U16 have graduated with a taste of victory, it will be fairly easy to transition into the U19 and U23 levels. Ultimately feeding quality players with heaps of experience into the national team. I believe that the current U19 team is the generation that carries this level of class, and it won't be until the next 5 years until we start seeing a noticeable and significant change in our senior national team. Although, many youth players are given ample play time in the national squad — such as Anjan Bista who made his national team debut against the Philippines (2nd friendly) in Doha last year.
With the introduction of the SAFF U19 tournament, this has produced a great chance for the side to prepare for the AFC U19 qualifiers. After all, winning tournaments isn’t just about silverware and glory — it’s about blooding the players for a bigger stage. As this team reached frighteningly close to winning the last edition of the SAFF, and performed impressively in Europe and Asia. Therefore, I am certain that Nepal U19 can reach the finals at the very minimum. But one must take a lot of caution in Group A, as coach Bal Gopal claimed. Although Bhutan and Bangladesh do not seem like frightening prospects, Bangladesh U19 come from Rene Koster’s U16 crop. The same man who was responsible for Bimal Magar’s and Hemanta Vincent Biswas’s appointment in Europe.
Biswas, who is also part of the Bangladesh U19 squad, has already scored 2 goals for the national team. Alongside this, Biswas has also been a part of high flyers Mohammedan SC and Sheikh Russel KC, two of the top clubs in Bangladesh. Therefore, it is safe to say that this is a team that has the potential to produce quality with Biswas on the attack. Nevertheless, Nepal U19 will have the home field advantage and the experience of AFC football on their side. My prediction is that Nepal will just about edge past the finals to lift the trophy, once again against India.
However, the question still remains: does the current national team have enough quality to finally win Nepal’s first SAFF Championship title? My heart says yes, but my mind says a resounding no. There are a lot of problems with the current national team regarding match-fitness, synergy, diet, ability, motivation, and finally: winning mentality. To me, this poses a major threat to Nepal: The Gorkhali’s have been experiencing a goal-drought AND winning-drought since 5 September 2013 (vs India, 2013 SAFF Championship). It’s hard to imagine that the only exception to this was a minor training match where they won 1–0 against the previous U16 side last year in June.
So what needs to change in the short term? A change of hats is certain — captaincy must be up for grabs. Places must not be guaranteed and ‘safe’ for any player. This forces them to be lax. The boss, Dhruba KC must shake things up and insist that heads will roll is sufficient progress isn’t made. As Graham Roberts warned, this is hard to achieve if the coach is Nepalese. As the level of expectation and discipline tends to raise among the players once a foreign coach is appointed. Although I still believe that Dhruba KC can introduce a sense of authority among the squad in order to gain results.
After all, Nepal’s best performance in the SAFF Championships were 3rd place at best — and they stopped awarding bronze medals since 2003. But it might be quite beneficial that the senior team’s SAFF tournament is held in December, as if both the U16 and U19 win their tournaments (AKA ‘the double’), this might spur the senior team to follow suit and over-perform due to the opponent’s underestimating the squad. This is certainly a possibility, but one that requires hard work and effort. Something that Dhruba KC must build upon until winter.
Can Nepal win the this year’s treble? The answer remains to be seen. But can Nepal win the treble in our lifetime? Most likely, yes.
Written by Ash Chetri, columnist for GoalNepal.com. For questions and comments, you can follow Ash on twitter: @Ashtopher.
