UNDERDOG NEPAL HOPE TO TURN THE TABLES ON MALAYSIA

SHAH ALAM (Malaysia), Oct 15 (Bernama) -- Underdogs, Nepal hope to throw
the form books out of the MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya and carve out a much
awaited victory when they face defending champion and host, Malaysia, in their
opening Merdeka Cup football match Wednedsay.

Nepal team manager Rajendran Man Singh said that Nepal were participating
in
the Merdeka tournament for only the second time as their first appearance in
1983 ended in an embarrassing 0-6 during a group match.

"That bitter experience had taught us a lot. Thus, our team with a
mixture of senior and junior players, are well-prepared now, than then and our
top most priority will be to avenge the defeat suffered 25 years ago," he told
a press conference after the team managers meeting here Tuesday.

Nepal, coached by Birat Krishna Shrestha who was also a player of the 1983
squad, are also known as "The Bull" for their robust approach had last played in
the South Asian Football Federation Cup jointly hosted by Maldives and Sri Lanka
last month.

Although they did not survive past the group stages, the manager felt his
side had benefited from the experience.

Asked on his view about the Malaysian side, Rajendran said the national
team was a formidable opponent and have several quality players as well as the
advantage of playing at home.

Nevertheless, my boys would be out to create a sensational upset Wednesday,
he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's assistant coach Mohd Zaki Sheikh Ahmad regards
opening
matches as the toughest always, and wants the players to give due respect to
Nepal.

"In actual fact, we don't have any problem playing against Nepal but the
real problem lies in the self-confidence of our players," he said, referring to
the unsatisfactory performance in the recent friendly match against
Pakistan.

"They still keep making silly mistakes and you cannot make such mistakes in
international matches," said Zaki who assists National head coach B.
Sathianathan.

On top of that, Mohd Zaki added that Malaysia had no clue on how the three
teams, namely Nepal, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan played, since Malaysia had not
played against them recently.

Nevertheless, he was optimistic the Malaysian team would emerge victorious
WEdnesday.

Meanwhile, Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general
Azzuddin Ahmad said there would be a slight adjustment in the playing schedule
due to the late arrival of three teams.

"We had to revise the schedule due to the late arrival of Sierra Leone,
Afghanistan (Group A) and Mozambique (Group B). They are expected to arrive here
only tonight (Tuesday night) and would not be ready to play tomorrow
(Wednesday)," said Azzuddin.

Sierra Leone was supposed to play Afghanistan Wednesday.

He added that the travel arrangements were handled by their respective
football associations and not FAM.

Revised fixtures:

GROUP MATCHES:
Tomorrow: Group A: MALAYSIA vs Nepal, 8.45pm, MBPJ Stadium, Kelana Jaya
Oct 16 (Thursday): Group B: Myanmar vs Vietnam, 6.30pm, Mozambique vs
Bangladesh, 8.45pm (Both matches at Shah Alam Stadium)
Oct 17 (Friday): Group A: Nepal vs Afghanistan, 6.30pm; MALAYSIA vs
Sierra Leone, 8.45pm (Both matches at MBPJ Stadium).