By a Staff Reporter
Nepal men’s Football team head coach Abdullah Almutairi has requested the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) to call 26 players for the close camp including Anjan Bista and Tej Tamang.
Almutairi sent an email to ANFA General Secretary Kiran Rai to make necessary arrangements for training and has submitted a list of players that he wants to be included in the close camp. As per the ANFA sources, Almutairi has submitted the list of 26 players to the General Secretary which includes 20 players who featured in the Asian Cup Qualifiers that concluded in Kuwait in June along with 6 new players. He also mentioned that he wants to begin the close camp from September 10.
Santosh Tamang and Darshan Gurung are left out of the squad as they have moved to Australia to pursue their future. Likewise, Almutairi has not called Nepal U20 skipper Ayush Ghalan.
Besides 20 players who featured in the Nepali team in Asian Cup Qualifiers, Almutairi has added Jagjeet Shrestha, Anjan Bista, Tej Tamang, Dinesh Hemjan, Manish Magar, and Prashant Awasthi to his 26-men list which he submitted to General Secretary of ANFA.
Almutairi clearly mentioned in the letter that he wants the continuation of his old coaching staff. He has asked to retain Kiran Shrestha as his assistant coach, Bikas Malla as goalkeeper coach, Bikas Gurung as kits manager, Ajay Shrestha as a physiotherapist, and Bibek Subedi as Media Officer.
He also asked ANFA to appoint a new manager at the earliest. Earlier, Madhusudan Upadhyay was the manager of the national team. Almutairi also asked ANFA to arrange hotels, kits, and other necessary materials for the players to commence the training.
Almutairi asked ANFA to call the following players for close camp:
Arik Bista, Bikas Khawas, Bikas Tamang, Bishal Sunar, Deep Karki, Gautam Shrestha, George Prince Karki, Manish Dangi, Nawayug Shrestha, Nir Kumar Rai, Pujan Uperkoti, Rajan Gurung, Roshan Rana Magar, Sesehang Angdembe, Shiva Gurung, Suman Aryal, Sunil Bal, Tekendra Singh Thapa, Suraj Jeu Thakuri, Akash Budha Magar, Anjan Bista, Tej Tamang, Dinesh Hemjan, Jagajeet Shrestha, Manish Magar and Prashant Awasti.