Mar 24, Kathmandu- Nepali football team is playing a friendly match against Thailand today. Nepal's coach Abdullah Al Mutairi has said that the performance of the Thai summer team should not be used as an excuse.

Nepal will play against Thailand today at 5:45 pm Nepali time in Chonburi. The Nepali team had gone to Thailand only on Monday.

"We have played in Kuwait before in the summer. The summer in Thailand doesn't make any difference to us. The team's performance here cannot be attributed to the heat", Almutairi told a news conference in Thailand on Wednesday.

Thailand is ranked 112th in the FIFA rankings. Nepal is currently in the 167th place. Nepal and Thailand have met three times so far.

This time, Nepal is going to play with Thailand in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers to be held in China next year. That is why Nepal's coach Almutairi said that the game against Thailand would be very useful for Nepal to gain experience.

The players of Machhindra Football Club who are preparing to play in the AFC Cup are not in the national team. Bimal Ghartimagar, Bishal Rai, Bishal Shrestha, Sujal Shrestha, Manish Dangi, Sunil Bala and Debendra Tamang are not in the national team. Without key players, the team is likely to undergo extensive changes. Coach Almutairi also said that he has adopted a new strategy. For the same reason, there is a strong possibility for young players to get the opportunity this time.

After the match against Thailand, Nepal will compete with Chonburi FC of Thailand on 13th of Chaitra. They have arrived in Thailand for two friendly matches and have been training for two days.

Nepali team:

Kiran Chemjong (Captain), Tikendra Thapa, Deep Karki, Dinesh Rajbanshi, Gautam Shrestha, Nabin Gurung, Pujan Uparkoti, Suman Aryal, Suman Lama, Sudip Gurung, Ashish Lama, Ayush Ghalan, Ananta Tamang, Anjan Bista, Erik Bista, Prashant Awasthi , Darshan Gurung, Nitin Thapa, Santosh Tamang, Akash Budhamgar, Suraj Jiu Thakuri, Tej Tamang, Subash Gurung, Rohit Chand