Kathmandu, Sept. 22: Two under-age Nepali men’s football teams, U17 and U20, began their respective international campaigns with a loss on Saturday.

The U17 team lost in the SAFF U17 Championship in Thimpu, Bhutan, and the U20 team lost in the AFC U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers group stage in Chinese Taipei.

While the U17 team lost to Pakistan, the U20 squad lost to Cambodia, the team coached by former Nepali head coach Koji Gyotoku of Japan.

Playing the first match of Group B of the Asian Cup Qualifiers, Nepal’s U20 team lost by 4-1 at the ground in Fu Jen University in New Taipei.

The majority of Nepali players were together for around three months; it was almost the same squad that reached the final of the SAFF U20 Championship in August. However, there was a lack of proper communication between the players against Cambodia.

Cambodia dominated the play since the beginning. Cambodian players took a two-goal lead within seven minutes. The first goal came in the third minute when Vreak Phan headed the cross from the corner spot. 

It was another corner set-piece in the 7th minute that gave Cambodia the 2-0 lead. Cambodia’s Phoeuk Thatthai got a chance to shoot the ball from just outside the six-yard box after Nepali defenders failed to clear the ball.

Cambodia was still pressing with the ball but Nepali defenders were finding some ways to keep the lead from extending. Nepal’s hopes were revived after a diving header from Samir Tamang over a cross by Nirajan Karki reduced the lead to one goal in the 3-minute additional time of the first half.

Nevertheless, Nepal could not recover in the second half. Cambodia extended the lead to three goals. Substitute Mean Chanrith made it 3-1 in the 61st minute and Eav Sovannara made it 4-0 in the 83rd. 

Nepal faces host Chinese Taipei in the second group stage match on Monday. 

U17’s 1-0 loss

Nepal’s U17 players had individual skills, good ones; yet, the players were struggling to connect their passes and having good communication to create quality chances. Moreover, when they created the chances, they could not convert.

The same was with the Pakistani team. They had a better combination than Nepal, but they too were failing to score. However, a cross from the corner in the 81st minute gave Pakistan the lead, which went on to become the decider.

Muhammad Talha, a substitute, got his head to the cross of the corner and scored the winner for Pakistan. Nepal faces Sri Lanka in the second group-stage match on September 23.