Katuwal named Nepal’s football coach

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Nov. 2: Right after he was appointed the head coach of the national men’s football team, Prabesh Katuwal called 30 footballers to the closed camp for the international friendly against Pakistan on November 16 at Dasarath Stadium.

The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) on Tuesday appointed Katuwal as head coach of the men’s national football team. Katuwal is one of the successful coaches of Nepal's domestic football. Under his tutelage, Machhindra Football Club has won back-to-back Martyr’s Memorial ‘A’ Division League titles in the season 2019-20 and 2021-22.

He replaced Pradeep Humagain, who was looking after the Nepali team as an interim coach for the Bangladesh friendly held on September 27.

Katuwal, taking charge of the national side for the first time, said it was an opportunity he would not want to miss. "I know the national team is a challenging job and it is even going to be difficult to play against Pakistan given the time constraints. But this is something I do not want to miss. I want to do better in this job," said Katuwal.

Speaking to the-anfa.com over the selection of players, Katuwal said he believed he assembled the best team for the friendly. "I may be comparatively new to management but I have been associated with football for over two decades now. This team is my experience of those years," said Katuwal. 

Katuwal said the exclusion of influential midfielder Bishal Rai from the national side was due to injury, stated the-anfa.com. "Rai is injured and he will not join the squad."

Katuwal said the Pakistan game would be a difficult one for Nepal. "We know Pakistan is returning to international football after years of exile but their players have been playing in foreign countries. They are a strong team to beat and we want to beat them," he said.

Pakistan’s football team is officially travelling to Kathmandu for the first time after global football governing body FIFA lifted its suspension on June 29. FIFA banned Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) in April 2021 for third-party interference. The closed camp will begin on Wednesday at the ANFA Complex, Lalitpur. 

Squad: 

Kiran Chemjong, Bikesh Kuthu, Deep Karki, Bishal Shrestha, Bikash Khawas, Bikash Tamang, Sesehang Angdambe, Nawayug Shrestha, Tej Tamang, Abhash Lamichhane, Rohit Chand, Anant Tamang, Dinesh Rajbanshi, Gautan Shrestha, Devendra Tamang, Ranjit Dhimal, Pujan Uperkoti, Sudeep Gurung, Suraj Jyu Thakuri, Sujal Shrestha, Arik Bista, Bimal Gharti Magar, Anjan Bista, Manish Dangi, Sunil Bal, Ashish Chaudhary, Kritik Khadka, Ayush Ghalan, Sanjog Rai and Nishan Khadka.