With curtains about to come off the SAFF Championship 2021 on Friday, Nepali side have completed all preparations for the tournament.
Nepal had played two friendly games against India―drawing one and losing the second―in Kathmandu and also underwent a closed camp in Doha, Qatar.
Nepal will begin their SAFF Championship campaign against hosts and defending champions Maldives on Friday and Nepali side believe they are ready to get the tournament going and hopefully get their hands in the trophy for the first time.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference in Male on Thursday, Assistant Coach Kiran Shrestha said Maldives will be one tough team against Nepal. "They are a good team and the defending champions. Also they are playing in the home pitch. They will be very hard for us to play against them," said Shrestha.
When asked about which teams were favorites for the tournament, Shrestha said India and Maldives were the team to beat. "India have won it seven times, Maldives twice," he said. Shrestha added preparations for the Nepali side have been good and the friendlies and closed camp will help them in the tournament.
Nepali team captain Kiran Chemjong said they were ready to put up a fight against the opposition teams. "Maldives will have home advantage and home fans. We respect all the fans but the advantage doesn't matter to us. We are here to fight on the pitch for results," said Chemjong.
The game between Nepal and Maldives will kick-off at 9 PM Maldives time. The opening match of the tournament will be played between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at 4 pm Maldives time.
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