Photo: Supportive Nepalese cheering for their home team Photo Courtesy: http://givemegoal.com/np/

Cheers all around. The 'Nepal! Nepal!' screams envelope the stadium. National flags being waved. Faces printed in red, blue and white. Atmosphere truly fantastic. Many people already in and more standing in queue to get in.

 On 19^th March, when Nepal took on giant neighbors India in Dashrath Stadium for FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers, around ten thousand people were present in the stadium to cheer for the National Team.

ANFA (Akhil Nepal Football Association) had announced earlier that there would only be 10,000 tickets available as opposed to 20,000 which is the capacity of our 'only' Football stadium. A lot of eyebrows were raised when the prices were NRs. 700 and 1500 for normal and VIP sections respectively. But, the crowd was just showing that these prices don't matter provided that you have a true passion for the game.

Having lost the first leg to India by 2-0, one could easily notice that Nepalese team was low on confidence. And, there was this home crowd to boost that confidence. To many people's surprise, Nepalese team dominated most of the game but unfortunately, settled for a 0-0 draw. From start to end, the crowd's support was just amazing.

[caption id="attachment_5319" align="aligncenter" width="691"] Photo: Cheers cheers all around
Photo Courtesy: http://omgnepal.com/[/caption]

When the shout went on like 'Nepal...Nepal', everybody got Goosebumps and a sense of patriotism flowed through the heart. When you really have a national flag in your hand and shout your country's name like an insane person, you do realize," I really love my country".

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