Bal Gopal Maharjan ( ne, बाल गोपाल महर्जन) is a retired Nepali football player who most recently was coaching the Nepal men's national team. He was in the squad which won the historic 1993 SAG gold. After his retirement from football Bal Gopal has been busy coaching different age level Nepalese teams.

Career

His major achievement during his playing career was the

1993 South Asian Games The 1993 South Asian Games, officially the 6th South Asian Games, took place from December 20 to December 27, 1993, in Dhaka, Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is ...

gold medal. From 1991 to 1993, he played for Bangladeshi club

Brothers Union Brothers Union is a football club based in Gopibag, Dhaka. The club was founded in 1949 and the regal business tycoon Kazi Ghiyasuddin Ahmed, better known as K. G. Ahmed served as the founder chairman of the club. At the beginning it was a well ...

. After retirement, he started his coaching career with

Three Star Club Three Star Club is a Nepali professional football club based in Patan, Lalitpur, that competes in the Qatar Airways Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, the top flight of Nepalese football. The club was previously known as the ''Laxmi Bank ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. Maharjan led the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

to victory in the 2015 SAFF U-19 Championship and again in

2016 Bangabandhu Cup The 2016 Bangabandhu Cup or 2016 Bangabandhu Gold Cup was an international association football tournament organised by the Bangladesh Football Federation as a tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Launched in 1996, ...

. On 1 June 2016, Bal Gopal was appointed head coach of

on a three-month contract, thus became the first Nepali to coach a top-tier football club in another country. On 10 June 2018, he was appointed as the assistant coach of

Nepal national football team The Nepal national football team ( ne, नेपाल राष्ट्रिय फुटबल टोली) represents Nepal in FIFA, International men's association football, football, and is governed by the All Nepal Football Association ...

under head coach

Koji Gyotoku is a former Japanese Association football, football player and manager. He is the current head coach of the Cambodia national under-21 football team and Bati Youth Football Academy, Bati Academy. Playing career Gyotoku was born January 28, 1965 ...

ahead of

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

. On 25 August 2018, he was appointed as the interim head coach of the national team. Maharjan takes over from head coach

after the Japanese national was entangled into visa issues. On 8 September 2018,

defeated hosts

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

2–0 to enter the semifinals of

2018 SAFF Championship The 2018 SAFF Championship, also known as 2018 SAFF Suzuki Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 12th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's association football, football championship of South Asia organized by South ...

and Bal Gopal Maharjan became the first Nepalese coach to lead Nepal to

SAFF South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), founded in 1997, is an association of the football playing nations in South Asia and is part of the larger Asian Football Confederation. The members of the association are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Mald ...

semifinals. He also managed Nepal, that won 2021 Three Nations Cup defeating

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

;

Bangladesh Federation Cup Federation Cup, also known as Bangladesh Federation Cup, is Bangladesh's premier cup competition in men's association football. The competition started in 1980 and is run by the Bangladesh Football Federation which is responsible for all types of ...

(1): 1991 ;

* SAG Football (1):

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

Manager

; Nepal U20 *

SAFF U-19 Championship The SAFF U-18/U-19/U-20 Championship is a biennial football championship for male footballers under the age of 20 and is organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The championship was held for the first time in August 2015 in Nepal. ...

(1):

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

;

Bangabandhu Cup The Bangabandhu Cup, also known as the Bangabandhu Gold Cup, is an international football tournament organised by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) as a tribute to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who is the founding father of Bangladesh ...

(1):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

* Three Nations Cup (1):

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

; Nepal U23 *

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic C ...

(1):

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maharjan, Bal Gopal Living people Nepal national football team managers Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) South Asian Games gold medalists for Nepal Nepalese football managers South Asian Games medalists in football South Asian Games silver medalists for Nepal Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Nepal Nepalese expatriate sportspeople in Bangladesh Association footballers not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality Nepalese expatriate football managers Brothers Union players Expatriate football managers in Bangladesh

Career

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Manager

See also

References