Goa, June 4 -- Nepali players' heads were down. They were not talking with one another. Head coach Nabin Neupane, who always puts up a smile, also looked devastated. The Nepali team had just suffered a 1-2 loss against Bangladesh in the semifinal of the SAFF Women's Championship at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa, India, on Wednesday.

It was only the second time in eight editions of the South Asian tournament that Nepal bowed out without reaching the final. And it seemed to have hurt the players, staff and fans alike as the golden generation of Nepali women's football could not even compete for the trophy this time.

In December, it will be four decades since the Nepali women's football team played its first international match-against H...