Prime Ceramics has honored the Nepali team that was the runner-up in the Under-17 SAFF Championship. Prashant Agarwal, executive officer of Prime Ceramics, honored the 23 players and six officials of the Nepalese team in a program organized in Lalitpur on Thursday.

The age group SAFF Championship was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from September 5 to 20. Nepal lost to India in the final of the six-team tournament. This team will be participating in the U-17 Asian Cup qualifiers to be held in Vietnam.

Agarwal of Prime Ceramics responded that he was happy to honor the Nepali players who performed well in Sri Lanka. "All the players in this team are talented. These players proved their mettle in Sri Lanka. It is sad that they could not be honored on time. It is hoped that the performance of the Nepali team will be good in the Asian Cup qualifiers to be held in Vietnam. We are also together in this overall team journey. We will meet after we leave Vietnam", Agarwal said.

Agarwal honored the players and officials participating in the SAFF Under-17 Championship with a cash prize of five thousand each. He said that in the future, he is willing to cooperate not only with the Nepali youth team, but also with the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), the football regulatory body.

Urjan Shrestha, the head coach of the Nepalese team expressed his sadness that even though his team was the runners-up in Colombo, Nepal was not taken care of. "It is positive that these young players are honored by the individual or private sector. This will motivate the whole team. We will prove our ability once again in Vietnam," Shrestha said.

Former player Rajesh Shahi, who was present at the event, advised the respected young players to play with a positive attitude. "There is no doubt that this team is talented. But being talented is not enough. A positive attitude is required. Confidence is needed. No matter how strong the opponent is, if you play without fear, the result will be in your favor. Therefore, we should play with these things in mind," said Shahi.

Shahi believed that Urjan Shrestha, the team's head coach, was in the early stages of his training career and that he would be successful only if the players performed well. "Urjan has been proven as a player. Now it's time to prove it in training. He will be considered successful only if the performance of the team is good. It is the players who make him successful. That's why all players should play for the country, for their team, for the coach," said Shahi.

Team captain Prashant Laksam thanked Agarwal for the honour. And he expressed his belief that the experience gained in Sri Lanka would be useful in Vietnam.

Nepal U17 has been placed in Group 'F' in the Asian Cup Qualifiers. All the matches in this group will be played in Vietnam in East Asia. The group includes Nepal and home team Vietnam along with Thailand and Chinese Taipei. Nepal will face Thailand in its first match on October 5, Vietnam on October 7 and Chinese Taipei on October 9.