The men’s national football team of Nepal looking for their first win took a big tumble in the men’s AFC Asian Cup football qualifiers Group F held in Laos recently.

Head coach Matt Ross’ boys suffered a disappointing,frustrating and unexpected 1-2 defeat at the hands of hosts Laos who are 15 places below Nepal in the FIFA World rankings.

Speaking of rankings, in my opinion it doesn’t really matter. A winning performance matters more than anything at the end of the day.The outcome once again exposed Nepal’s vulnerabilities.

The Australian coach had to endure a second defeat since he took over the national team. As things stand,the scenario is far from rosy for him,and he now faces quite a challenge to turn the tide.

Considering the head to head record between the two sides,Nepal enjoyed a clear edge over Laos.

Prior to this match, in the last six meetings between the two,Nepal had won three and drawn three.The loss did come as a mild surprise.

It was the first defeat Nepal suffered against Laos in as many matches.The setback could not have come at a worse time, as the team has been struggling and going through a lean phase They entered the match against the hosts as favorites and had the opportunity to end in the win column and redeem themselves.

However,they messed up the match by underperforming and conceding the match eventually . They paid dearly for mediocrity in the first half and missed goal scoring chances despite a late rally. They trailed by 2 goals in the closing stages of the game. Manish Dangi’s penalty conversion in the 73rd minute goal saw the team go all out for the equalizer and close out the match but all in vain.

Overall,they struggled to play inspiring football, lacked structure,creativity, consistency and coordination to stretch and overcome the opposition who successfully cashed in on home ground advantage to their favor.

With two successive defeats Nepal dropped to the bottom of the points table.They are winless and pointless so far.

A tough match is in store for Nepal when they face Vietnam in Vietnam in the second week of October this year.They will need a vastly improved,strong and consistent performance to make their presence felt in the match.

Before their clash against Laos,Nepal had only registered three wins in their last 22 outings across all competitions.This reflects their struggle and poor form.

There remains much to be done to improve the state of Nepal football in terms of infrastructure and grassroots development. In fact, the issue is systemic and lies deep within the heart of Nepal football.

All Nepal Football Association is at the core of the problem.They are largely to blame for this stagnation,having failed in their responsibility to effectively drive the development of footballover the decades.

If this situation does not change,Nepal football will continue to stagnate further,with no end in sight to the players’ woes,fans’ frustration and teams’ poor performances in international competitions.

By Sushil Thapa, Fairfax, VA