GOAL NEPAL
After losing 1-0 to Afghanistan at the semifinals of the South Asian Football Federation Championship 2013, the Nepali national team drew widespread flak for failing to find the goalpost. We caught up with coach Krishna Thapa to get his reaction.
BBC: Why did Nepal fall short once again despite improved performance, rising confidence, and immense support from the home crowd?
Krishna Thapa: Maybe it was just bad luck. Our defence was strong and Afghanistan had only one clear attempt on goal, with which they scored. We had more than 10 chances of scoring, but we couldn’t make it count. Our goalkeeper made a mistake trying to catch a ball he should have punched and this led to the only goal. But we didn’t panic after this early setback, we kept on going but it wasn’t to be.
Did Afghanistan alter their game plan after the early goal?
Not really. They had physical advantage in midfield where they made good link-up plays, but not in the danger zones. After scoring so early in the presence of 20,000 Nepali fans, their confidence got an immense boost.
Nepal made a number of attacking moves after this, but didn’t seem to have any plan. Our players looked like they were panicking?
Yes, in the first half we panicked a little. But in the second half we were aggressive and even sent a forward in place of a midfielder. It was a bad day, nothing worked for us.
Overall, do you feel that Nepal made a good game of it?
We dominated them in the second half. Our tempo increased, we made good moves through the field and provided good crosses through the wings. But their goalkeeper was excellent and we couldn’t get past him.
How do you rate Nepal’s overall performance?
Our overall performance has improved. Of the four matches, I think we played best against Bangladesh. The Pakistan match was memorable because of the context and the manner in which we equalised.
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