India
| MALDIVES |
The two countries India
and Maldives
The two countries have made it a habit of
crushing each other’s dream of winning the Cup. This is the fourth straight
SAFF Championship in which they have run into each other in the knock-out
stages with India having got
the better of Maldives
They have shown good passing ability under
pressure and will fancy their chances against the hosts, who have been erratic
so far.
The Indian midfield has been lacking in both,
bite and creativity with the wingers also supplying no real width or quality,
aside from the win against Bhutan, whom Afghanistan showed up as being nothing
more than a team making up the numbers. Their passing has been mediocre and
generally the players seem to lack confidence.
However knockout stages can bring the best out
of teams, and India will be
hoping to take inspiration from their U-23 colleagues, who made a slow start in
the last SAFF Championship before edging out Maldives
Samir Naik is back in contention for a place
in the Indian line-up, a relief to Savio Medeira as Naik’s experience might
come up handy if Ali Ashfaq rampages down his wing.
Man To watch :
ALI ASHFAQ:
The man nicknamed "Dhagandey" which
means the Man of Steel is the talisman of this talented Maldives outfit and often regarded as the best
forward in South Asia , though Sunil Chhetri
might have something to say about that.
His pace, trickery and general ability on the
ball has left several defenders chasing shadows in this SAFF Championship,
where he has been in great form, scoring important goals as well as setting up
his team-mate Ahmed Thariq for a crucial double in the win over Bangladesh,
which sealed their qualification as group winners.
 |
| ALI ASHFAQ |
The Indian defence, which apart from Syed
Rahim Nabi lacks pace, will have a tough time handling this tricky customer,
who has a knack of showing up across the frontline. Stopping him will be
pivotal to India
Sunil Chhetri:
Who else but him? The striker, who grew up in Delhi , has shrugged off the disappointment of his trial
with Rangers to yet again prove his value to the Indian setup with his goals,
having scored in each of the three group matches, including a crucial equalizer
against Afghanistan
Starved of service from midfield, Chhetri has
almost taken it upon himself to score as well as create goals for his team, a
fact which was highlighted when Sri Lanka
closed down the space around the Mohun Bagan forward in the first half, leaving
India
 |
| Sunil Chhetri |
If Maldives
take note of Sri Lanka ’s
clever ploy to stop the forward, India
To get the Live Update of the Semifinal match between India and Maldives click here:
Facts:
about Both opponent:
- No SAFF
Championship final has taken place without either
- The
highest margin of victory between the two teams was
- While
the biggest win in the SAFF Championships was in 1997, when a IM Vijayan
brace helped
- Sunil
Chhetri, who has four goals in the Championship and has scored a goal in
each of their group matches, will be eyeing IM Vijayan’s six goal tally of
1997, which is still the highest number of goals scored by an individual
in a single edition.
Field Report
| India Friendlies (IF) | 10-Jul-2011 | Maldives 1 - India 1 |
 Maldives    | ||
| 06-Dec-2011 | Maldives 3 - Bangladesh 1 | SAFF |
| 04-Dec-2011 | Pakistan 0 - Maldives 0 | SAFF |
| 02-Dec-2011 | Maldives 1 - Nepal 1 | SAFF |
| 28-Jul-2011 | Maldives 0 - Iran 1 | WCQA |
| 23-Jul-2011 | Iran 4 - Maldives 0 | WCQA |
 India    | ||
| 07-Dec-2011 | India 3 - Sri Lanka 0 | SAFF |
| 05-Dec-2011 | Bhutan 0 - India 5 | SAFF |
| 03-Dec-2011 | India 1 - Afghanistan 1 | SAFF |
| 29-Nov-2011 | India 0 - Zambia 5 | IF |
| 16-Nov-2011 | India 3 - Malaysia 2 | IF |
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