Another opportunity to end the women’s South Asian Federation Championship title drought goes in vain for the women’s national team of Nepal.

They exited the regional championship which concluded in Margao, Goa, India recently, following defeat at the hands of defending champions Bangladesh 1-2 in the semifinals .

Nepal looked poised to enter the final,following defender Gita Rana’s goal in the 22nd minute of the first half, giving them the crucial lead.

However, within a minute of the start of the second half,Bangladesh bounced back to level the score.

Team Nepal did have a host of scoring opportunities to surge back to take the lead, however,poor finishing and inability to translate it into goals let them down.

When it seemed the game was headed to extra time, Nepal’s dream of reaching the final was shattered when midfielder Preeti Rai scored an own goal to handover the match to the opposition, putting an end to their run in the competition.

As Group A winners Nepal had advanced to the last four. They won both their matches against Bhutan 1-0 and Sri Lanka 2-0.

The goal scorer for the team was Gita Rana who found the net twice. Rashmi Ghising and Renuka Nagarkote each scored a goal.

Star striker and the team’s highest goal scorer Sabitra Bhandari aka Samba currently nursing an injury was unable to participate in the tournament.

The prolific goal scorer’s absence made a big difference,impacting the team’s overall offensive play.

Nepal went into the tournament with high expectations but lacked adequate and proper preparation to stand a good chance to lift the championship for the first time.

Responsible for overlooking and denying the team timely, necessary and meticulous preparation was the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) that was recently suspended by the World Football Governing Body FIFA.

It may be recalled that Nepal has been runners up six times since the start of the tournament in 2010.

Despite having to cope with the overall state of Nepal women’s football,which is far from desirable and challenging, footballers have remained unfazed and continue to play the sport with the intent to glorify the country internationally.

They may not have won the regional championship,but the progress they have made over the years has been noteworthy and remarkable.

Without a shadow of doubt there is no dearth of talent in the country. Apart from current national players playing for different age groups, there are countless numbers of highly skilled young budding players across the country on the rise knocking on the selectors door.

More importantly, the present crop of players representing the country are seriously committed to prove themselves and take women’s football to new heights, internationally.

They are fast catching up with India by narrowing the gap in terms of performance and playing standards .

In South Asia they have transformed themselves into a force to reckon with from pushovers. A good number of players are playing outside of the country for foreign clubs.

In FIFA rankings Nepal is 87th only behind 69th ranked India and 25 places above Bangladesh sitting at 112th.

Having won the championship six times, India has been the most dominant team. Bangladesh has won twice and finished second twice.

With the latest setback,Nepal’s wait for winning the tournament has further prolonged. The waiting period can get cut short if the responsible party undertakes radical measures to address the issues obstructing the smooth progress of women’s football and change things around .

It is crystal clear that women’s football needs to be prioritized and fully supported by ANFA in terms of finance, infrastructural development ,international exposure and a strong domestic football.