Kathmandu: Nepal’s newly appointed football coach Guglielmo Arena has said he will use the match against Laos to assess new players while maintaining a clear objective of securing victory in their final AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers third-round fixture.

Both teams in Group ‘F’ are already out of contention for the AFC Asian Cup finals, having collected three points each from five matches.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of Tuesday’s clash, Arena said, “We have arrived in Laos with a balanced squad comprising young and experienced players. My focus is to evaluate the young players, which is why five have received their first national team call-ups. Laos are a strong side, but we are ready for the challenge. We will take to the field aiming to win.”

Arena has handed debut call-ups to Yubaraj Khadka, Pemba Dorje Lama, Roman Bhujel, Milan Rai and Yogesh Dhimal.

He axed some of the experienced faces including all-time leading scorer Anjan Bista, Arik Bista and Laken Limbu among others.

Nepal captain Kiran Chemjong echoed the coach’s sentiment, stressing that victory remains the primary target. “Our goal is to win. We have prepared well and will execute the coach’s strategy on the field,” he said.

The match between Nepal and Laos is scheduled to kick off at 7:00 PM local time.

The two sides have met six times previously, with Nepal winning four matches, Laos one, and one ending in a draw. In their most recent encounter during last year’s AFC Cup qualifiers, Nepal suffered a 2–1 defeat.

The fixture was initially set to be held in Nepal but was moved to Laos after ANFA failed to address minor infrastructure issues at Dasharath Stadium, forcing Nepal to play away.