“What would happen hai, if we won. We won arey kya. What would happen”, Dai tells me drawing a long slurp on his tea.

“There is a chance. If we draw at their home, and win by one goal here. What would happen?” I wonder, excited.

“…if that happened…it would be history. People would come to the streets all by themselves.”

We both start thinking what that would be like—not since the last revolution had that happened.

“Did you read today’s Nagarik?” he asks me.

“No, just Republica”

“It’s also at that, but it’s more in Nagarik”

“What?”

He pulls out the Kantipur from the table behind and points to an article on the sports page.”It’s in all the newspapers”. And after a pause, “But a long article in Nagarik”.

It was about Rohit Chand, a mid-fielder from the Nepali national football team, being tussled for by Tottenham and Arsenal.

“Wow. I didn’t know this, when did this happen?”

“It feels so good reading this kind of a thing. I was so happy, made my day. Read that word again”.

He was referring to being “tussled” for.  Apparently scouts from both the English clubs were going to Jordan to watch the Nepal-Jordan first leg match in the World Cup Qualifiers. We then started imaging a Nepali guy running to get the ball in the Premier League.

“He could go to Barcelona too, after that, if he does good. Imagine that.” I tell him. But then again Tottenham was good too.

“Everybody would be Tottenham fans in Nepal after that, no doubt about it”.

We lost of course. Nine to Zero. I haven’t talked to dai after that. I think it would be sad for a while, the way we were going at with our imaginations. Even after we drew one-one Thursday. But I know I’m being harsh and we shouldn’t have let our imaginations go flying so much. Its a lot of mixed feelings after Thursday. I am not religiously into football, but I watch the World Cup zealously and keep updated on the EPL and have a favourite club.

Admittedly I haven’t followed our own league as much though. That has changed, at least in terms of the national game, after finding out about our new coach.

We’ve had a lot of conversations about him. Questions like “Why is he here?” have been raised. “Anytime, someone good or famous comes to do something in Nepal, we ask why is he here?” my friend asks. I had heard he was also being called upon by China.

Whatever his motive, he has aroused great hope in the Nepali football fraternity and fans (and so much of it is also concerned with the confident remarks he makes at press conferences).  Which is also probably why, we had been very excited about our first leg match against Jordan.

We had felt that this was the time for us, it was going to be one of the most important matches we had ever played. Were we advancing to the fringes of another leg in the Qualifiers this time? We knew later that we should have in fact, kept it real.

But even if we had, being struck nine goals tends to make one think if you should have ever expected anything at all.That said (and as I said, lots of mixed feelings) a draw, sliding on the friction of our possibilities as well as the water logged ground,Nepali style, has been a good antiseptic.

Now we need to do something in the SAF Games and make some history. Because right now, I think, we really need one.

Chiya-Pasaley loves tea and writes about conversations that originate along the hours spent on drinking many cups of it. Besides that he is curious about many things and especially the rural-urban divide, and the coming of modernization to Nepal. He writes on the mundane and the very fantastic, and everything in between.