Maldives test for Chhetri-less India
Defending champions India will begin as underdogs when they take on an inspired Maldives in the semi-final of the SAFF football championship here on Monday.
India, the six-time champions, have always been overwhelming favourites in the South Asian region but the current side coached by Wim Koevermans have performed way below par in the tournament so far, having won by a solitary goal against Pakistan, followed by a 1-1 draw against Bangladesh and a humiliating 1-2 defeat to Nepal in their final group league encounter.
If their poor show wasn’t enough, the absence of skipper Sunil Chhetri because of a double booking means that the striking options are limited for the Dutch coach, who will be forced to field Robin Singh from the start along with out-of-touch Jeje Lalpeklhua.
Whether Koevermans sticks to his one striker formula of playing with a 4-5-1 formation or he changes to a more familiar 4-4-2 by pushing Robin alongside Jeje could have an impact on the game’s result.
It will probably be the first time that the Maldives are a form team with skipper Ali Ashfaq having pumped in 10 goals in two matches, including a double hat-trick against Sri Lanka and four against Bhutan.
On the other hand, India have scored three goals in three matches including an own-goal by Pakistan skipper Samar Ishaq, while Chhetri’s precision free-kick against Bangladesh and Nabi’s acrobatic side-volley versus Nepal have both come during the dying moments of the respective matches.
Gourmangi Singh is expected to wear the captain’s arm-band in Chhetri’s absence by virtue of earning the most number of international caps (84) in the current side.
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