SAFF Championship played in round robin league among five South Asian nations did not provide for any semifinals. The two top teams are to play directly in the final.
But the way the keenly contested tournament played so far, the four teams would virtually play do or die matches for surviving in the tournament. Off course Nepal and Maldives have advantages. Both with 6 points from three matches need only draw against their respective opponents to scrap through.
Bangladesh and India need wins to feature in the final. Kazi Salahuddin, President BFF and also President of SAAF has rightly said, the standard of football in all South Asian nations have improved a great deal making none favorites any longer. Any team can win against any other team on their day with none mere push over. All eyes will be glued today at electronic media directly telecasting from Male the high voltage matches between Nepal VS Bangladesh and Maldives VS India.
Points Table
|
Nation |
Matches |
Won |
Lost |
Drew |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
|
Nepal |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
|
Maldives |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
|
India |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|
Bangladesh |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
-1 |
4 |
|
Srilanka |
4 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
1 |
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[photo collected]
We Bangladeshis for success draught always dream big in any event. The team started well winning expectedly against Sri Lanka, the only team ranking lower than Bangladesh in FIFA ranking. They also fought gallantly against strong Indian team rallying from behind even with 10 players for the most of the second half. With four points from two matches, they were hoping against hope that they would qualify for the finals straightaway winning against Maldives. But playing against reigning champions at home and that too playing third game in a week’s time took heavy toll.
Bangladesh lost by (2-0). Their final game today against table topper Nepal is their do or die. Winning is the only option. Any other result would make them flying back home. With some rest over few days Bangladesh can go all out today. But with few players missing through red card and couple through yellow cards the job got tougher. Yet with quality of players in the bench and nothing to lose Bangladesh can win. If that happens that would be a huge boost for football of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has to score goals exploiting the opportunities coming their way and also defend resolutely.
India was tipped as pre-tournament favorites. But the started slowly failing to beat a 10-man Bangladesh and lost a point. They also failed to beat Sri Lanka in the second match. However, their win against Nepal has also created an opportunity for scrapping through to the final provided they prevail over host Maldives today. Any other result would let India go back home empty handed. India has the capabilities for doing that. But the mission would not be as easy as being thought. Billions across South Asia would watch the matches today with raft attention.
BDST: 1149 HRS, OCT 13, 2021
SMS
