KATHMANDU: The SAFF U-19 Championship is starting from Thursday at Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu. Nepal is facing Pakistan on Thursday.

Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, and Maldives are participating in the tournament. Nepal is in Group A with Pakistan and Maldives.

Group B comprises India, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Nepal starts the tournament by playing against Pakistan on Thursday.

In the second match, they will play against Maldives on Monday. In the pre-match conference held at ANFA Complex Satdobato on Wednesday before the competition, the coaches and captains of all the teams said that the preparations for the championship were good and they believed that there would be excellent results.

In the pre-match conference, U-19 national football team head coach Sunil Shrestha said that SAFF’s preparation was very good. He said that even a win would be good because the players have worked hard.

Likewise, U19 Nepali football team captain Ziarath Seikh said that all the preparations were good.

Similarly, the coaches and players of other participating countries also said that preparations are being made to take the trophy home. The competition, which will start on Thursday, will run until October 13th. According to ANFA, all the matches of the tournament will be held at Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar, Kathmandu.