Nepal lose to Kuwait in SAFF Championship opener

By Prajeet Shakya,Bengaluru, June 22: Nepal lost to Kuwait 2-1 in the inaugural match of the SAFF Championship 2023 in Bengaluru, India on Wednesday.

The win has bolstered the semi-final berth of the invitational side Kuwait. This is the first time Kuwait participated in the SAFF Championship as the invitational team. Lebanon is also competing in the South Asian regional tournament. 

Nepal needs to yield positive results against India on Saturday and Pakistan on Tuesday for the semis hope. 

Captain Khaled Hajiah, Shabaib Alkhaldi and Mohammad Abdullah scored one goal each for the Gulf nation in the match played at Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Anjan Bista pulled one for Nepal. 

After Kuwaiti Skipper Khaled’s head pass went the wrong way in the 68th minute, Bista took control of the ball and netted it in the one-to-one with goalie Abdul Rahaman. This is Bista’s 12th goal from 54 national caps. He is one goal shy from joining Nepal’s top scorers Hari Khadka and Nirajan Rayamajhi, who have 13 goals.  

Nepal conceded all three goals in defensive lapses. 

As Nepal’s goalkeeper and Skipper Kiran Chemjong failed to guess correctly the direction of Fawaz Alotaibi’s corner and left his position in the 23rd minute, Khalid poked the ball into the empty goalpost.

Alkhaldi doubled Kuwait’s lead with four minutes from the break. Abdullah provided a cross ball from the left flank and Alkhaldi controlled the ball to net from close range. Though Bimal Gharti Magar was marking him, Alkhaldi found his way to the goal in a smart move. 

Abdullah, who missed scoring in the 36th minute, put himself on the scorer’s list in the 65th minute from the spot kick. He converted the penalty to treble the lead of Kuwait. 

The referee punished Nepal with a penalty after defender Anant Tamang’s committed a handball foul inside the box.  

Nepal, who looked weak against Kuwait in the first half, showed a competitive match after the interval. 

Coach Annese said his youth side was worried at the beginning. “But I am proud of the way my team played in the second half. This team will be worth watching in the future. Nepal will come up with a better performance in the next match against India.”

Annese said the Nepali squad will bank on his knowledge against India on Saturday. “I have spent almost three years in India. I have good knowledge about Indian football.” 

Apart from Ayush Ghalan, Italian Coach Annese fielded the same first eleven who played against the Philippines last week against Kuwait today. Instead of Ghalan, Manish Dangi got the first choice.   

Kuwait's coach Rui Fernando Dasilva Bento was not happy with his team even after the victory. “Nepal played well. Nepal is an organized team with potential. My team did not play a natural game, especially in the second half. But I am happy with the win because the win gave me three points.”

This is Nepal's ninth defeat in ten matches against Kuwait. One game ended in a tie.

Tamang wins 50th Cap

Nepal's centre-back Anant Tamang reached the milestone of the 50th international match by playing against Kuwait in SAFF Championship 2023 on Wednesday.

Current squad’s Kiran Limbu, Rohit Chand and Anjan Bista had already played more than 50 international matches for Nepal.  

Tamang made his international debut by playing against India in 2015. Tamang said he had not thought of playing for so long when he played his first international match.

“I am lucky. Playing for Nepal's national team is a big thing. I am even happy to reach the milestone of 50 games. I want to prolong the life of this game. For this, I have to improve my fitness.”

Tamang, who often leaves his defence line and comes forward to head free kicks aimed at corners and d-boxes, has three international goals to his name.