SAFF Championships: One for the master?

Male, October 15

Having endured a topsy-turvy beginning to their campaign before a fine turnaround, seven-time champions India will start title favourites when they take on first-time finalists Nepal in the summit clash of the SAFF Championships here on Saturday. The final will be the 12th for India in 13 editions which shows the domination of the Blue Tigers in this regional tournament. The third-place finish in 2003 was the worst performance for them.

They (Nepal) may not have an extraordinary player in their ranks like an Ali Ashfaq (of Maldives). But as far as attacking and defending are concerned, they do it as a team. They have been the best team that plays as a team in this Championship. It’s not going to be easy. The job is not yet done Sunil Chhetri, India Captain

A win against Nepal will also be head coach Igor Stimac’s first trophy after taking charge of the Indian team in 2019. Should the team come good, he will become the sixth coach to win the SAFF Championships title and third foreigner after Jiri Pesek (1993) and Stephen Constantine (2015).

Stimac will, however, not be in the Indian team dugout on Saturday as he was shown a red card (second yellow card) in the Maldives match apparently for protesting the referee’s decisions.

His assistant Shanmugam Venkatesh, himself a SAFF Championships winner, will guide the side. — PTI

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