Nepal eyeing second win against Mauritius

 

Nepal: Confident hosts Nepal take on Mauritius in their second international friendly football match on Tuesday after registering a narrow 1-0 victory over the African side in the first match at Dasharath Stadium on Saturday.

Nepal, who have announced two separate squads for the two-match friendlies but with 12 common players in both the teams, aim to give continuity to their winning run over the visitors. Apart from that, Nepal is also expected to give debuts to some fresh faces in the match.

Unlike Nepal, the visiting East African side, who played their first international game after a two and a half years hiatus owing to Covid-19 outbreak, would be willing to go home on the back of winning results.

Mauritius played in the absence of their four key players in their first friendly after testing positive for coronavirus upon their arrival in Nepal. But they will all be included in the second game, according to coach Tony Francois. “They were important players of our squad and they will be ready to play in the second match,” Francois had said after the first game on Saturday.

While Nepal are hosting Mauritius to prepare the team for the third round of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers set to take place in June, the visiting side has similar ambition of preparing the team for the Qualifiers of African Cup of Nations due to take place later this year.

“The game against the physically superior opponents was important for us to prepare for Asian Cup Qualifiers,” Nepal’s coach Abdullah Almutairi said after the first match who also gave debuts to midfielders Sudip Gurung and Aakash Buda Magar.

The Kuwaiti is also expected to give debuts to fresh players in the next match with the view to have more selection options for the Qualifiers. However, he is likely to retain key senior members including captain and goalie Kiran Limbu, winger Anjan Bista and striker Bimal Gharti Magar, the lone scorer in the last game who marked comeback to the national fold nearly after three years due to injuries and suspension for disciplinary reasons.

Both the teams are on a similar level in the FIFA rankings. Hosts Nepal are 169th in the rankings, just three notches above Mauritius, who rank 172nd.

The football governing body All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) will allow spectators only one third of the Dasharath Stadium’s capacity due to the pandemic with strict adherence to the government’s health protocols. The match will kick off at 16:45 NST and will be telecast live on Kantipur Television.