Anjan, Arik left out as Nepal names five new faced for Laos fixture

Kathmandu: All-time leading scorer Anjan Bista has been left out of the Nepal national football squad, as head coach Guglielmo Arena on Sunday announced a 23-member team featuring five new faces.

Along with Anjan, midfielders Arik Bista and Laken Limbu are among the notable omissions from the squad for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers third-round fixture against Laos.

Anjan is Nepal’s joint all-time top scorer, alongside former captain Hari Khadka and Nirajan Rayamajhi, with 13 goals each.

The five newcomers include midfielder Pemba Dorje Lama (Tribhuvan Army Club); forwards Milan Rai (Church Boys United) and Yubaraj Khadka (Nepal APF Club); midfielder Roman Bhujel (Planning Boys); and goalkeeper Yogesh Dhimal (Planning Boys).

Similarly, Deep Karki, Dinesh Henjan, Kushal Deuwa and Subash Bam have also been left out of the squad travelling to Laos. Among them, Bam is currently participating in the SAFF U-20 Championship in the Maldives.

Newly appointed head coach Arena had initially called up 49 players on March 15 for preliminary selection.

Goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong will lead the Nepali team as captain.

Nepal are already out of the race for qualification and will face Laos on March 31. The team departed for Laos on Saturday. The match was originally scheduled to be held in Nepal but was shifted to Laos due to ANFA’s failure to address infrastructure issues at Dasharath Stadium, forcing Nepal to play the fixture away.

Nepal Squad

Abhishek Limbu, Aditya Shakya, Ananta Tamang, Ayush Ghalan, Bimal Pandey, Bishal Sunar, Dipesh Gurung, Gillespye Jung Karki, Kiran Kumar Limbu, Kritish Ratna Chhunju, Mani Kumar Lama, Manish Dangi, Milan Rai, Pemba Dorje Lama, Rohan Karki, Rohit Chand, Roman Bhujel, Sanish Shrestha, Suman Shrestha, Sumit Shrestha, Yogesh Dhimal, Yogesh Gurung, Yubaraj Khadka.