Nepal aim to break 23-year jinx

Nepal are looking forward to breaking their two-decade long international title drought at the senior level when they take on a youthful Bahrain in the final of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today.

The match will get underway at 5:00pm and will be telecast live on Channel 9.

Nepal will appear in the final of any international tournament for the first time in 17 years since their appearance at the 1999 SA Games' football event in Kathmandu, where they lost to Bangladesh. They can take hope from their triumphant 1993 SA Games campaign, when they clinched gold after besting India in the final.

They can take further inspiration from their coach Bal Gopal Maharjan, who is a remnant of that victorious '93 side.

Nepal were far from favourites going into the tournament and their path to the semifinal was far from convincing as they won just once -- a 1-0 win over Sri Lanka -- while drawing the other two games against Bangladesh and Malaysia. However, their spectacular 4-1 demolition of Maldives in the semifinal puts the Himalayan nation firmly in the driving seat going into the final. Especially since their opposition comprises of inexperienced players in their early 20s.

"We have reached a major event's final after 17 years and want to make it a memorable one by winning the tournament. Apart from the success of Nepal, I also have a personal target to achieve from this tournament because I was a member of Nepal's winning squad at an international event also held in Dhaka in 1993," said Maharjan at the pre-match conference at the BFF House yesterday.

"Preparation for the final has been done and the players are ready mentally and physically to overcome the challenge against Bahrain," continued Maharjan. "My boys executed the game-plan against Maldives well and I hope they will once again come up with proper execution of the plan to win the tournament."

Bahrain's assistant coach Al Nasr -- who briefed the media due to head coach Marjan Eid's touchline ban for being sent-off in the semifinal -- was also upbeat about his side's chances of winning the tournament, although his charges performances were lacking through their group-stage matches and even in the semifinal against Bangladesh.

"It will be a hard game for us, but we hope to be successful as our play has improved a lot since we came here," Nasr said.