Nepali Booters Did Their Best

Nepal’s recent performance in the 2002 World Cup football preliminaries held in Iraq and Kazakhstan was below par, by and large. Their 0-6 and 1-9 loss to Kazakhstan and Iraq respectively in the first leg in Iraq showed and shows where we stand in contemporary football. In the second leg in Kazakhstan the team dished out a vastly improved performance, conceding a handful of goals only. Against mighty Iraq our youngsters turned in a Herculean effort and found the net twice. The boys had their moments of glory and celebration against Macao. The first ever victory in a World Cup qualifier for Nepal was registered after they convincingly outplayed Macao 4-0 in the first leg, followed by a 6-1 win in the second. The lads deserve a round of applause for their historical victory over Macao and gallant performance against Iraq in the second leg. They did and gave everything and delivered their best. Otherwise, two wins over Macao would have been impossible. To be honest the team’s insipid showing (overall) did not surprise many considering the fact that the team took part in the competition under difficult circumstances. Clearly the team was ill-prepared for the tournament and woefully short of training. Players morale was at its lowest. The impact of the ongoing All Nepal Football Association feud on players was obvious. Undoubtedly we can achieve a lot more in international football because we have talents in abundance. Our tragedy, however is that we lacked and lack a system (free of politics) to run not only football but overall sports in this country. No wonder we have so badly lagged behind in international sports.

Sushil Thapa
Winchester, Virginia, USA

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