
Guwahati, Feb. 16: When all odds are stacked against you, the "Gorkhali" attitude paves the way, believes Nepal's football coach Raju Kaji Sakya, who led the men's team to 2-1 victory against India at Indira Gandhi Stadium here last night.
"Our players are unfortunate in so many ways. We don't have state-of-the-art training facilities. Our players can't afford individual instructors and we do not have all the required equipment. But we have the Gorkha blood in our veins and the Gorkhali attitude helped us eke out a victory against a strong opponent like India," Sakya told The Telegraph in an exclusive interaction at the hotel today.
Gorkhas, the fighters of Nepal that expanded from Gorkha kingdom of the 16th century, are internationally acclaimed for their courage and fighting spirit. "Our Gorkhali teaching is that we should always follow the orders given by our superiors and give all our efforts in the field to bring laurels to our country. This is what the players did. They followed my orders and played with full spirit," Sakya added.
On the 8.1 magnitude earthquake that jolted the country last year, Sakya said it could not shake the determination of the players.
In fact, Sakya's wife was among the injured in the quake, that killed over 8,000 people and left around 12,000 injured.
"My wife was in the Swayambhunath temple in Kathmandu, which was damaged. She fractured her leg and I was beside her in the hospital for around one-and-a-half months. The boys also stopped playing and helped in the rescue work. After around one-and-a-half months, we all started training again," Sakya said.
The Nepal team played two championships after the earthquake, namely the SAFF Championship Cup in India, in which they emerged third and clinched the title in the Banglabandhu Cup in Dhaka.
"It's all because of our spirit. Our stadium was demolished and we had to practice on an indoor artificial turf. We did not have any floodlights and even the gym for the players is not upto the mark," he added.
However, after the victory in the Games, Sakya hoped that the scenario would change.
"We have showed the government what we can do with such limited facilities. The people here say the training facilities in Guwahati are not good. But what I have seen is that they are much better than what we have back home. So I think the government will take note of our efforts and provide facilities. Meanwhile, we will strive to bring more laurels to the country," said Sakya.