{"id":2403,"date":"2019-12-07T04:40:54","date_gmt":"2019-12-07T04:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/?p=2403"},"modified":"2019-12-07T04:44:13","modified_gmt":"2019-12-07T04:44:13","slug":"nepal-needs-winning-performance-against-maldives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/2403","title":{"rendered":"Nepal needs winning performance against Maldives"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The men\u2019s Nepal \u00a0football \u00a0team squandered a glorious opportunity to win their second successive match at the South Asian Games in Kathmandu.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Going into injury time, the home team led Sri Lanka by a goal, and they were on the cusp of victory.<\/p>\n

Contrary to expectations, fans were left in a state of shock silence, following Sri Lanka\u2019s \u00a0brilliant \u00a0free kick conversion into a goal, and, more importantly,winning a valuable point.<\/p>\n

Indeed it was a disappointing result for the host. A win \u00a0could have assured them a place in the final. It was a missed chance.<\/p>\n

Nepal met a speed bump and put themselves under some pressure.They have to bounce back and get back into the win column to avoid further disappointment.<\/p>\n

Credit goes to Sri Lanka for their never give up spirit till the final whistle.They \u00a0made good \u00a0use of their pace and physical presence throughout the 93 minutes action.<\/p>\n

Nepal did \u00a0dominate exchanges and looked threatening \u00a0for the most part.They matched the pace and physicality of the opposition.<\/p>\n

Although the Sri Lankans dominated the ariel battle, the defense did \u00a0their job.They stood \u00a0strong, firm and kept the opponent at bay.<\/p>\n

But \u00a0the attack line familiar inability to make the most of scoring \u00a0opportunities once again proved costly for the team.<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly,the offense must improve \u00a0penetration, ball possession and cohesive play. Likewise, midfield play was far from wanting.There is clearly lack of \u00a0depth,creativity and fluidity.<\/p>\n

Coach Bal Gopal Gopal Maharjan needs to \u00a0go back to the boardroom and effectively adjust the game plan for the upcoming matches.<\/p>\n

The team has to \u00a0work on their shortcomings, learn \u00a0from their mistakes and play with a sense of urgency.<\/p>\n

With two matches to go against Maldives and Bangladesh,Nepal \u00a0is comfortably \u00a0positioned and \u00a0has the best odds to reach the final.<\/p>\n

Apparently,they \u00a0have to \u00a0avoid defeat at all cost in both matches. A win and a draw will assure them a \u00a0place in the \u00a0final.<\/p>\n

However, nothing is guaranteed. And nothing can be taken for granted. All \u00a0that matters is a winning \u00a0performance at the end of the day.<\/p>\n

Nepal has to play their very best against Maldives.They have to come out flying,need to be aggressive and set the tone early.<\/p>\n

Players have to peak form and give their best efforts.They cannot \u00a0allow the opposition to make headway. It will be a tough match and need total focus.<\/p>\n

Expect Maldives \u00a0to make every \u00a0bit of effort to redeem themselves.They can prove to be a hard nut to crack.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka made things difficult \u00a0for themselves, following their defeat to Bangladesh by a solitary goal.<\/p>\n

They are in a must win situation against Bhutan in their final match. As things stand, they have a \u00a0a razor thin chance to stay alive in the competition.<\/p>\n

Bhutan has been the biggest surprise \u00a0of the competition. With two wins, it looks \u00a0increasingly likely that they \u00a0will enter the final.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The men\u2019s Nepal \u00a0football \u00a0team squandered a glorious opportunity to win their second successive match at the South Asian Games in Kathmandu. Going into injury time, the home team led Sri Lanka by a goal, and they were on the cusp of victory. Contrary to expectations, fans were left in a state of shock silence, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2405,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2403\/revisions\/2405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nepalipost.com\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}