SAFF Championship: Familiar foes India, Nepal to renew rivalry
Bengaluru, June 23
A 4-0 hammering of Pakistan giving them the perfect start, India will have a wonderful opportunity to move closer to the semifinals of the SAFF Championship when they face Nepal here tomorrow.
The hosts hold the advantage over their opponents. India have an overwhelming 16-2 overall head-to-head record in the 23 matches played between them, a sequence that started in the 1985 SAF Games.
The last meeting between the two sides came during the 2021 SAFF Championship, when India defeated Nepal 3-0.
As far as the SAFF tournament is concerned, India have a commanding 6-2 head-to-head record from their nine matches.
India will be without the services of head coach Igor Stimac after he was shown a red card during India’s win over Pakistan in the ill-tempered opening match. Assistant coach Mahesh Gawli will take charge of the team at the dug-out.
Nepal went down 1-3 to Kuwait in their opening match and a positive result against India is mandatory for them to stay alive in the tournament.
However, India cannot afford to be complacent as Nepal have the wherewithal to spring a surprise. Nepal’s 31-year-old midfielder Rohit Chand, who plays in the Indonesian league, and forward Anjan Bista could be surprise packages.
Additionally, Nepal coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese is quite familiar with Indian football as he has served as the manager of the twice I-League-winning side Gokulam Kerala FC.
The Indian camp is aware of the threat and assistant coach Gawli warned his side against letting their guard down against the Gorkhalis.
“They (Nepal) are a good side and they played a very good game against Kuwait as you all saw. It will be a very tough match for us,” Gawli had said after the match against Pakistan. PTI
Stimac to serve one-match ban
Bengaluru: Head coach Igor Stimac will return to the Indian dug-out in the game against Kuwait on Tuesday after serving a one-match ban for his red card offence against Pakistan in the home side’s SAFF Championships opener here. South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) general secretary Anwarul Huq said that Stimac’s offence was not serious enough to attract a ban of more than one match and as such it will not be referred to the SAFF Disciplinary Committee for further action. PTI
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