SAFF: India aim to carry on momentum versus Maldives
DHAKA: Defending champions India are high on confidence but will still have their task cut out when they lock horns with a tricky Maldives in the SAFF Cup football here on Sunday.
Despite starting their title defence in style against Sri Lanka, national coach Stephen Constantine on Saturday declared that his team “is not going to start as favourites in any of the matches” in this tournament. “We are not going to start as favourites in any of our matches. We are a young and inexperienced side and we are playing against senior sides. We can say we have a good chance to win this game. But I don’t feel we can be labelled as favourites before the kick-off,” he stated.
The match is scheduled to be played at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. In the past, India have got the better of Maldives 13 times out of 18, while Maldives have won twice.
The last time the two teams met in the SAFF Championship was in the semi-final in 2015-16 when India relied on a Jeje Lalpekhlua brace and a Sunil Chhetri strike to prevail 3-2.
INDIA U-19 TO PLAY FRIENDLIES
NEW DELHI: The Indian U-19 football team will be travelling to Serbia to play two international friendlies against the Serbian U-19 side on September 13 and September 17. After playing in the four-nation tournament in Croatia against France, Croatia and Slovenia, the India U-19 team is now gearing up for a new challenge. Both the matches are part of the exposure tour being organised by the AIFF in coordination with SAI.