Kathmandu, Sept. 2 -- Nepal U23 men's football team has participated in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in five of the last six editions since the tournament's inaugural edition in 2013, but they have failed to progress to the big stage in all of them. Nepal did not participate in the qualifiers for the sixth edition in 2023.

However, this time, Nepali youngsters are aiming to silence the critics and prove their worth by qualifying for the U23 Asian Cup for the first time in their history.

"We have four players in the squad who also play for the senior side," Nepal's U23 head coach Nabin Neupane said in the pre-tournament conference on Tuesday. "We have prepared well. We spent two months in training."

Aayush Ghalan, Kritish Ratna Chhunju,...