Be it the English coach Graham Robert’s magic or Team’s own hard work, Nepali Team has definitely shown a great progress. The team’s goal-less draw with Srilanka on Monday has lead Nepal to the finals of AFC Challenge Cup 2012.
Nepal played a total of three games in qualifying series and was able to collect 4 points making it to the second of its group. North Korea, with whom Nepal went down 0-1 in a dignified loss topped the group with 9 points in total. Among other group members, Sri Lanka ended up without a victory while Afghanistan earned only 3 points. In last group matches, Nepal drew Sri Lanka 0-0 and North Korea beat Afghanistan 2-0. Nepal had previously won Afghanistan with 1-0 and the defeat of Afganisthan with 2-0 North Korea made it easy for Nepal to qualify for the finals.
Nepal along with other eight teams to make it to finals are;
- Nepal
- North Korea
- Palestine
- Philippines
- India
- Turkmenistan
- Maldives
- Tajikistan
The finals will be held next year and will be hosted by one of the qualified teams and is yet to be finalized.
Congratulations to the Nepali Team and hope the team under Graham Roberts will go a long way ahead! All the best for AFC Challenge Cup!
Update: Along with that Good News, Nepal has climbed 22 places up to 150th in FIFA ranking. Nepal is now ahead of Bangladesh (166), Pakistan (168) and Sri Lanka (173). Keep Going Nepal