The second match of AFC Chaellenge cup 2012 will be played between Host Nepal and Palestine in Dashrath stadium.
Group : A
Nepal Vs Palestine
Time: 17:00 NST
Venue: Dashrath stadium
PROBABLE LINEUPS:
NEPAL
Malla;
Rai, Thapa, Chand, Shrestha;
Basnet, Khadka, Silwal, Tamang;
Gurung, Sahukhala
|
PALESTINE
Saleh;
Saleh, Mahdi, Barghouthi, AbuJazr;
Samara, Youssef, Nu'man, Wadi;
Attal, Attieh
|
Nepal:Nepal will be looking to feed on their enthusiastic fan
support for strength as they face Palestine
in the opening match of the 2012 Challenge Cup. The Gorkhalis will be hoping to
do enough to capture the trophy which will give the winner a direct entry into
the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.
However the home team will have to do without the services of talented
midfielder Bijaya Gurung who is injured and out of the tournament with a
serious knee injury. Meanwhile all eyes will be on former Kettering Town
defender Rohit Chand who has been rock solid and considered to be among the
best young Asian defenders. Nepal
will be playing offensive game on the format of 5-3-2 and format may be changed
according to need. Nepal
in the last few months was lacking the scorer and coah is hoping that Striker
will strike this time a she had worked a lot on them.
Palestine: Palestine
will be missing defender Rafat Eyad who hurt himself in a car accident only
last week. The White Knights will also miss the services of Raed Fares. His
replacement Samir Hilazi returns after a 5 month absence form the squad. Palestine are also doubtful
of the presence of star defender Omar Jarum and Haithan Dheeb who might not get
released from their respective clubs. With such a lack of defenders it is
expected that Khaled Salem shifts to the central defensive position while Abu
Saleh can also slot in at right back.
Facts:
- Nepal ranked 153 are the top South
Asian team, and 25th in Asia
- There
was a huge stampede at the National Stadium on March 1, 1998 when
thousands of supporters watching a match between Nepal and Bangladesh made a run for the
stadium exits to escape a sudden hailstorm. 93 people were killed in the
disaster.
- Nepal skipper Sagar Thappa hit a 35
yard gravity defying free-kick against Bangladesh last year. The goal
was such a beauty that there is a Facebook fanpage which wants it to be
included in the top 10 nominees for the Ferenc Puskas goal of the year
award.
- Current
Palestine
coach Jamal Mahmoud is yet to draw a game as the team has won and lost
three under his tutelage.
- Omar
Jarun is an American citizen by birth who has also acquired Palestine citizenship
Coach Views:
Nepal
English coach Graham Roberts said the spectators have so many expectations from
National team and team will up live the fan expectation playing aggressive game.
All th teams in group are capable of entering
semifinal. While Palestine coach said Nepal is strong side and will respect Nepal but Palestine
is in kathmandu to win. He said they are dreaming to be back with cup.
Head to head:
Nepal and Palestine had
faced earlier as they had faced Palestine three
years ago in AFC challenge cup qualifier when Nepal
played goal less draw against Palestine.
The U23 team of Nepal and Palestine
ahd played on Olympic Qualifier and Palestine
beat Nepal by 2-1 in Palestine and by 1-0 in Katmandu.
Last Five Matches:
 Palestine     |
| 29-Feb-2012 | Palestine 2 - Azerbaijan 0 | FR |
| 22-Dec-2011 | Kuwait 3 - Palestine 0 | AG |
| 20-Dec-2011 | Bahrain 3 - Palestine 1 | AG |
| 28-Jul-2011 | Palestine 2 - Thailand 2 | WCQA |
| 23-Jul-2011 | Thailand 1 - Palestine 0 | WCQA |
Nepal 
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