Nepal - Bangladesh renew rivalry today

KATHMANDU, Sept 18: Nepal will renew rivalry against its South Asian neighbor Bangladesh during an international friendly football on Tuesday at the water logged pitch of Dasharath Stadium, Kathmandu.

Bangladesh arrived Nepal to play two international friendly matches with the second game scheduled for Thursday.


The match on Tuesday will be the 13th international encounter between the two teams in which visitor holds better record than the host. Among 12 matches, Bangladesh has won eight and lost four.

But Nepal is likely to have psychological advantage as it defeated Bangladesh during its last encounter during the 7th SAFF in 2011. A miraculous freekick goal from skipper Sagar Thapa during the last minute of match enabled Nepal to defeat Bangladesh 1-0 in the group stage.

"We will have high morale and psychological boost against the visitors as we had defeated them during the last encounter and our standard of football has been rising since last few years," skipper Sagar Thapa said during a pre-match conference on Monday.

Bangladesh arrived Nepal with determination to win and has prepared according. But Nepal had not prepared even for a single day. "Though its friendly it is international match as well," said Bangladeshi interim coach Saiful Bari Titu adding, "We have taken the match seriously and arrived with full strength team."