The Indian men’s football team will play its second international friendly against Nepal on Sunday, September 5, at the Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal. The first of the two friendlies took place on Thursday where India had to come from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against neighbours Nepal. Ahead of the two friendlies, India had a two-week preparatory camp in Kolkata where they played against an IFA XI and Mohammedan SC.
In the first friendly, Nepal took the game to India and the visiting team failed to take charge of the game especially in the first half. Nepal scored through Anjan Bista in the 36th minute after a defensive lapse from India. Chinglensana Singh played the backpass to Gurpreet Singh Sandhu ahead of the goalkeeper. Bista was pressing and Gurpreet was a little slow off the mark. The Nepalese reached the ball first and Gurpreet was caught wrong-footed. From there, Bista had an open goal to aim at.
Throughout the first half, India were not able to string two good passes together and struggled to create anything meaningful on the pitch. At the start of the second half, Indian head coach Igor Stimac made four changes one of which was Aniruh Thapa coming on and in the end, he became India’s rescuer. In the 60th minute, Sunil Chhetri went for a stunning long-ranger but Kiran Limbu somehow got his hands to it to deny the India captain. However, the Nepal goalkeeper could not keep the ball out of play and Anirudh Thapa rushed to it and poked it home.
However, India were unable to force the issue even after equalising and the match ended in a draw.
The two international friendlies will serve as preparation for both sides ahead of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, which is scheduled to get underway in October. The 2021 edition SAFF Championship will include Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives apart from India and Nepal.
India squad: Amrinder Singh, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Pritam Kotal, Chinglensana Singh Konsham, Mandar Rao Dessai, Akash Mishra, Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose, Seriton Fernandes, Lalengmawia, Bipin Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco, Yasir Mohammad, Glan Martins, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Jeakson Singh, Pronay Halder, Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali, Sunil Chhetri, Farukh Choudhary
Nepal squad: Kiran Kumar Limbu, Deep Karki, Bishal Shrestha, Bikesh Kuthu, Ananta Tamang, Dinesh Rajbanshi, Gautam Shrestha, Rohit Chand, Suman Aryal, Rajan Gurung, Kamal Thapa, Ayush Ghalan, Bishal Rai, Nitin Thapa, Pujan Uperkoti, Santosh Tamang, Sujal Shrestha, Sunil Bal, Suraj Jeu Thakuri, Tej Tamang, Aashish Lama, Anjan Bista, Manish Dangi, Nawayug Shrestha, Suman Lama
What time will the India vs Nepal International Friendly 2021 match kick-off?
The match will kick off at 5:15 PM IST on Sunday, September 5, at the Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal.
What TV channel will show India vs Nepal International Friendly match?
Unfortunately, there will be no live telecast International Friendly 2021 between India and Nepal match.
How can I live stream India vs Nepal International Friendly 2021 fixture?
Fans can enjoy live streaming of the match on the Indian Football Team’s official Facebook page.
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