Kathmandu, Aug. 6 -- Talking to journalists at the team's farewell last week on Wednesday, Nepal's U20 head coach Yam Prasad Gurung had expressed that his team would defeat Group A opponents Saudi Arabia and Bhutan while the only challenge would be two-time Asian Cup winners and three-time World Cup winners North Korea.

The confidence of defeating the South Asian neighbour and the hosts of the group's qualifier was a result of the two comfortable wins-6-1 on July 11 and 8-0 on July 19-in the SAFF Championship in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

However, speaking at the pre-tournament conference in Bhutan on Tuesday, Gurung said that the SAFF results would not be a stepping point in the Asian Cup qualifier.

"Similarly, Bhutan are playing in their hom...