The final time India despatched a full-strength workforce to the SAFF Championship was in 2015. Sunil Chhetri was nonetheless in his 20s and Afghanistan was nonetheless a part of the South Asian Football Federation. India gained that version of the biennial event after shedding to Afghanistan in 2014. Chhetri, JJ Lalpekhlua scored 6 out of 14 targets scored by the nationwide workforce in six matches.
An ageing Chhetri has now crossed 100 caps for India and can as soon as once more return within the 2021 version of the event in Maldives. The event is getting used as a compulsory follow by the Indian nationwide workforce earlier than the beginning of the third spherical of the Asian Cup Qualifiers from February 2022. Admitting that at his age (37), it was unimaginable for India to achieve one other 100 caps, Chhetri mentioned that for him the return to the Saif Cup was a chance to lengthen his longevity.
“I have come here to play for my country. I don’t take any opportunity lightly. I wanted to play 100 games. And now I will take whatever chance I get,” mentioned the Bengaluru FC skipper.
‘Whatever the event’ is the important thing phrase that decided this Indian marketing campaign. As the pre-season for many ISL golf equipment, cup time has began to fall, which means {that a} camp and friendlies have been unlikely earlier than the event.
“We could not organize the preparatory camp due to obvious reasons. SAIF and AFC games are out of the FIFA calendar. We spoke to FSDL, ISL clubs, some of whom are starting their pre-training. This is the busiest time of Indian football,” Stimac mentioned throughout a digital convention on Saturday. “Everybody has had to give up something. It’s not easy and it’s not enough but I’m grateful.”
For the previous couple of editions the SAFF Cup was thought-about as a event the place India might ship its U-23 gamers. After profitable the title a report 7 instances and being miles forward within the FIFA rankings in comparison with different groups within the competitors, expertise was the mantra quite than profitable.
But this version of the Saif Cup has grown in significance. Despite the large paucity of worldwide video games, it’s the place of the coach that has primarily known as for Chhetri and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to be part of this workforce. With a unclear future and whether or not a brand new contract is coming his manner, Igor Stimac has rather a lot driving on the end result of this event. The poor performances in opposition to Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the course of the workforce beneath his management have raised new questions on his tenure.
The workforce’s location within the Maldives and their brief stint within the island nation have ensured that coaching is sub-par.
“We came here only four days back. We have to travel to Male by speed boat. There is artificial turf here. We are protecting our players so that they do not get injured. We have been playing for 15-20 minutes, working on the set piece. We can’t do much over here,” Stimac mentioned. He then added, “We are relying on the understanding that the players know each other very well.”
Players from ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC are the one examples of the benefit that India has made within the event. Eight gamers from these two groups have performed within the AFC Cup and are match match.
“After playing in the AFC Cup group stage matches, players from ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC continued with their pre-seasons, so it is an advantage for us. Most of the other ISL teams are yet to start their pre-season. We have to be careful about how many minutes we can give to those players,” Stimac mentioned.
India vs Bangladesh reside on Eurosport at 4:30 PM
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
