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Post by cjeagle on Oct 10, 2011 23:30:15 GMT 8
Philippines Nepal preview from the Nepalese perspective: www.goalnepal.com/news.php?id=5060Interesting fact: the sides have faced each other only once, a 1-0 win by Nepal in 1982. The Nepalese player who scored the goal is now the current president of the Nepalese Federation ANFA, Ganesh Thapa and apparently the current president of the PFF, Nonong Araneta, was playing for the Philippines. Here is an article of them meeting and reviving memories of that game: www.goalnepal.com/news.php?id=5056"We played together", Araneta said, "Ganesh was plying from Nepal team and I was in Philippines team. I remember, Ganesh scored the match winning goal against us in King's Cup in Thailand. He was a fantastic player". Araneta also said, "We feel proud to welcome Nepal National team here. I am looking forward to the match tomorrow".
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Post by feindouno on Oct 10, 2011 23:38:52 GMT 8
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Post by cjeagle on Oct 10, 2011 23:41:58 GMT 8
That is because, the pitch in their national stadium in Nepal is subpar. Jordan sent a protest to FIFA about the conditions of the pitch in their WC qualifying game against Nepal and other teams have made the same observations. "Jordanians who played in Nepal earlier this year described the pitch as a dirt field and the countries facilities as abysmal."
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Post by feindouno on Oct 10, 2011 23:52:03 GMT 8
Which would be worse, Sri Lanka's or Nepal's?
I'd have to assume that they also use their ugly pitch as an advantage. Which also leads me to think that they're bound to have some trouble playing against a team on decent turf.
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Post by cjeagle on Oct 11, 2011 0:05:06 GMT 8
Well, from comments from our player's during the Sri Lanka game, I would say Sri Lanka but that is a biased opinion because of first hand experience accounts from the Philippine side. FIFA has already warned Nepal to improve the conditions of the pitch, prior to their hosting of the AFC Challenge Cup next year, or they might decide to change the venue and award it to somebody else so maybe Nepal might be making efforts to improve it.
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Post by narko on Oct 11, 2011 0:05:40 GMT 8
Which would be worse, Sri Lanka's or Nepal's? I'd have to assume that they also use their ugly pitch as an advantage. Which also leads me to think that they're bound to have some trouble playing against a team on decent turf. And they're hosting the AFC Challenge Cup next year.
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Post by cjeagle on Oct 11, 2011 0:12:07 GMT 8
Nepal won the rights to host the AFC Challenge Cup, apparently because one of the friends of the discredited former AFC president Bin Hammad, was from that region and is an influential AFC official, and promoted Nepal as host overruling the recommendations of the inspection committee about the conditions in Nepal. That is why Nepal has only played 1 away game(a 0-9 loss to Jordan) in nearly 2 years and reaped the benefits of home advantage as a result. They always win hosting rights. Even their away game against Timor Leste(no suitable venues that fulfill minimum FIFA standards) in the first round of the WC qualifying was played in Nepal. In fairness to Nepal, the country did promise to improve conditions prior to the competition next year. The choice of venue was bet. Nepal, Palestine(political problems ruled them out) and the Maldives since nobody else offered to host. Don't ask me why the PFF did not. Maldives had problems with limited no. of venues and training facilities but were also working on solving those. In the end, it came to some power play from the top overcoming some objections from the AFC inspection committee.
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Post by cjeagle on Oct 11, 2011 0:38:10 GMT 8
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Post by cjeagle on Oct 11, 2011 0:53:05 GMT 8
Nice comment by the Nepalese coach:
"Nepal coach Graham Roberts: I saw DVD of game against Kuwait here and I think the Philippines should have beaten them." from @cedelfpt
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Post by jpmanahan on Oct 11, 2011 1:04:24 GMT 8
As per the press conference, the Nepalese pitch will be ready for use come the 2012 Challenge Cup. Nepalese FA is making sure pitch is in good shape for the matches.
Although honestly, we would be more in favor of the Maldives instead, if you know what i mean. *wink*
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Post by xyz1000 on Oct 11, 2011 1:10:09 GMT 8
..... Here is an article of them meeting and reviving memories of that game: www.goalnepal.com/news.php?id=5056"We played together", Araneta said, "Ganesh was plying from Nepal team and I was in Philippines team. I remember, Ganesh scored the match winning goal against us in King's Cup in Thailand. He was a fantastic player". Araneta also said, "We feel proud to welcome Nepal National team here. I am looking forward to the match tomorrow". Why is it that I get to read about this in the boards and in the Nepal coverage rather than the Pinoy newspapers? Thanks for posting!
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Post by cjeagle on Oct 11, 2011 1:11:01 GMT 8
Here is a comment on the deliberations of the AFC concerning the hosting of the Challenge Cup:
"Sources close to the AFC deliberations said Mr. Thapa(Nepalese president) as a member of the executive committee had acted improperly by lobbying the organization to ignore the inspectors’ report and award the hosting of the Cup to his country.
“They have to prove that the problems have been fixed. Otherwise the hosting of the tournament will be open again,” one source said.
BTW, Nepal in March is in the middle of their winter season. We have to cope with the high altitude as well as the cold weather. Reminds me of Mongolia and we all know what happened to the Azkals there.
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Post by jpmanahan on Oct 11, 2011 1:47:51 GMT 8
I'll see if i can whip up a post by this morning for a preview like the singapore one.
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Post by Wiking on Oct 11, 2011 8:18:22 GMT 8
A few more hours before the game. I can't wait. 100% support for the Azkals!
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Post by kangaroo on Oct 11, 2011 8:42:42 GMT 8
My prediction, 2-Nil Azkals! Personally I would prefer Mark Hartmann to pair with Phil upfront but my gut feel says Coach who knows much better than I am in football will use Araneta instead. I believe he holds the ball better and finishes well as compared to Ian. Just my novice opinion. Question is was he even invited to join yesterday's training guys? I hope we fill the RMSC and show our support. Excited for the game. Lets Go Get This One!
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