Nepal completed their all the away matches of the FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asia Cup 2023 qualifiers. Now, Nepal will play their remaining four matches of the qualification campaign at home ground which is most likely to be the Dashrath Stadium.
Among the four matches played away from home, Nepal grabbed three points from the possible of 12. However, the collected three points away is very vital for team Nepal. Nepali team is comparatively stronger at home matches. Till now the table looks like below:
[team_standings id=”1134″ title=”” number=”5″ columns=”p,w,d,l,pts” show_team_logo=”1″ show_full_table_link=”0″ align=”none”]
The first match against Kuwait was supposed to be a home match. However, due to the request from the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) the Kuwait Football Association and the FIFA agreed to swap the home-away match of Nepal against Kuwait. Therefore, Nepal will pay their first home match against Kuwait on 19th November.
The positives from the away matches !
Though Nepal lost three out of four matches, that also with higher margin, there are a lot positives as well. Nepal conceded 15 goals and scored only two in the four matches. Nepal collected three points from the possible of 12 points.
In the first match against Kuwait, where Nepali team looked completely fragile lost 7-0. The result was very embarrassing and the performance of the team was embarrassing as well. It seemed they lack confidence. The team was poor at everything. However, after five days of that defeat, Nepal defeated Chinese Taipei 0-2 to collect three vital points. In that match, the team had a spirit, a spirit to win, a spirit to fight back.
Similarly, the team also performed very well against Australia and Jordan. The team showed fighting spirit. Everyone was expecting Nepal to concede more that 10 against Australia but the players proved them all wrong. Similar, the case against Jordan as well. Nepal held Jordan to a goal-less draw till half time. However, some silly mistakes costs us three goals in the second half. Otherwise, the performance was good.
After the heavy loss against Kuwait in the first match, Nepali team develop a spirit to fight back, no matter how strong is the team. This spirit can be taken as one of the best achievement of the away matches.
Similarly, the players also seemed to be adjusting with the playing style of Johan Kalin. Kalin had developed a defensive line up of 4-5-1 with a sole forward, which seemed to be favorable for Nepali team. Specially against the strong teams.
Now, it would be interesting how Kalin will make up his mind for the home matches.