Roberts Golden Era [Nepalese Football Diary]

        Graham Roberts during his time in Nepal    pic: google

Still remember those days, I mean those few bright days which we, Nepalese football fans had the opportunity to witness. Without a doubt, Graham Roberts, the coach, was the hero both onscreen and off screen. From a strange white old man to the back covers of every newspaper out there in Nepal, clearly he had the willingness and attitude to take Nepalese football into next level. 

28 January, 2011, the day Roberts arrived Nepal to coach the team. His target was to qualify for the Finals of AFC Challenge Cup. North Korea, who featured in 2010 FIFA WC was among the other teams including Srilanka and Afghanistan. Not much was expected from the team as North Korea was certain to qualify with their class and experience, and Nepal, Srilanka and Afghanistan were to battle for 2nd spot. We managed to qualify for the Finals becoming second in the group. That was the very first moment, people realized Roberts was taking it seriously and had the attitude to take football  into new dimension. The team's moral was boosted after winning friendlies against Bhutan and qualify for finals of AFC Challenge Cup. 

Who don't remember  7-1 Victory over East Timor in first round of FIFA WC qualifiers. Who would have thought we will be going second round of qualifiers and with a score of 7-1 overall. Except 9-0 loss to Jordan in first leg of second round, everything was adorable. We some how managed to stop same Jordan team to a 1-1 draw in Kathmandu, the day when every Nepalese football fan were proud of their team. We were the highest ranked team in South Asia, if those rankings were kept till now, we would have been playing 2018 FIFA WC Qualifiers Second Round and our clubs would have tested The AFC Cup. We reached the semi final of SAFF Champainship 2011, although suffered a stoppage time loss against Afghanistan. Except that, everything else was positive. The results in AFC Challenge Cup had nothing to do with Roberts as his team trained for just 7 days for the biggest event Nepal was playing and hosting it for the first time. If anyone was to be blamed, ANFA was right there.

"You need to motivate the players. I still remember 9-0 humiliation in Amman and 1-1 draw against them in Kathmandu. I can't forget SAFF Championship 2011. Modern football is all about mental. you need to keep your players' spirit high. You need to pump in more energy to the players. You need to make them fighters and make them realized that you are playing for your country and the football loving people. I did same when I was taking charge", Graham Roberts in an interview

       Here comes the question, What did the football governing body did for the betterment of the team and overall football when its glamour was at its peak throughout the country? The answer is/was simple, they did nothing. If anyone thought the little golden days we witnessed was because of ANFA's hard work and determination, time already proved them wrong. 

From 170s to 130s in FIFA ranking, Roberts did what he could. ANFA's poor management already showed up their true colors. They could just arrange a week practice camp, couldn't even arrange a friendly for the preparation of AFC Challenge Cup. ANFA did nothing to improve the quality of league, neither make player busy and neither helped the clubs to improve. As they said, a single dream cannot make a dramatic change. 

As happened, the master of Golden Days, Graham Roberts left the team. No one with such attitude, passion and vision, and also of his class could work under someone else. ANFA used him as the escape goat after an awful performance in AFC Challenge Cup. And, that was the end of Little Golden Age of Nepalese Football era under Graham Roberts. 

By Ankit Sitaula

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