Lankans stroll back to the international Football arena

Sri Lanka is left with 128 days from today before their meeting with the high profile Indian team at the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2018 Football Championship, at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka is slotted in Group ' B' alongside the strong and defending title holders India and 2008 winners Maldives in a three- team pool while the Group ' A' includes four teams -hosts Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan.

The national football team has not entered the pitch for an international match since November 2016, and the outing at SAFF Suzuki Cup 2018, comes after almost two years. Their progress prior to the last international game has been dismal that Sri Lanka lost almost all matches before drawing 1- 1 against Macau at the Solidarity Cup 2016 in Kuching, Malaysia.

Incidentally the Sri Lanka football team will make their comeback to the global arena with several points to prove on September 5 after a string of defeats and a long layoff of international matches. Out of the lot the topmost in the list will be to perform as a unit, and a win could be termed as a miracle given the current status of Sri Lanka and the ratings of local experts.

With the burden of heavy challenges lied upon his shoulders, the newly appointed Head Coach of the Sri Lanka football team, Nizam Packeer Ali agreed to the fact that a win is not a must but in general it is more viable to focus on a new beginning.

"We should respect India and Maldives, our group opponents at the upcoming SAFF Cup for the obvious reasons that both these teams are ranked well above us, and they are two of the competitive teams that have progressed from the region. But that does not mean that we should go out as a weak team or the underdogs of the group," Packeer Ali stated.

Packeer Ali, took over a side that gradually slid down to 200 in FIFA World Rankings, from the mid 100s in a matter of closer to two decades. He virtually took over a side with no players in it at all. But since his appointment in February 21, Packeer Ali and his coaching staff have been roaming around the country scouting out for players to form two national squads.

The plan was to have squads of 30 players each, by end of March and by April 8 they managed to form a national squad consisting 30 players and five more as stand byes in addition to a national 'B' side that includes 18 players.

"I cannot promise the stars and the moon, but I can assure you that our goal is to draw matches at the upcoming SAFF Championships in September in Bangladesh. Firstly we have to come out of the losing trend, starts drawing and my plan is to build up a strong Sri Lanka team by 2022, where we can easily hope of winning games," Packeer Ali initially stated on his official appointment as Head Coach.

Since end of February to early April, Packeer Ali has managed to honour his words of forming national squads. Through a series of talent scouting programmes and from a total of closer to 150 players, mainly from the Premier football clubs of the country as well as from the North and East regions, he and his team made the initiative of 'to begin from somewhere'.

"Training has been going on positively since we teamed up early last week, and all have been very positive. The team has a good mixture of the experienced and more from the youth. We are moving on according to a plan, and my staff is fully backing me up. We are really doing fine as a unit," the coach added.

Currently Sri Lanka is ranked 200 in the FIFA World Rankings while India is at 97th and Maldives at 147. From the group of four at the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2018, Nepal ( 162), Bhutan ( 184), Bangladesh ( 197) and Pakistan ( 203) are placed on above 160 in World Rankings. But Packeer Ali is not focusing on the global ranks and instead spells out of a broader vision.

"We are looking at making future teams, not just a team to face the challenge for a tournament or two. We want to create a atmosphere that any player could be replaced through a feasible system and any coach could take over and move forward with the team. The football administrators have been fully corporative despite all the difficulties they are going through."

Sri Lanka has the honour of clinching the SAFF Championship in 1995, beating India 1-0 in the final in front of the home crowd in Colombo. In 1993 when the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup was initiated, Sri Lanka emerged runners- up to India. The islanders reached the semi-finals in 1997, 2008, 2009 and 2015, after which an unexpected downfall occurred.

The upcoming competition, which was originally dated for December 2017, was postponed by nine months, and will be played through September 4 to 15. Sri Lanka will be looking forward to change their woeful fate in global football and according to Packeer Ali the upcoming SAFF Suzuki Cup 2018 is the platform to make an all important initiative.

"There are some more plans being made by the football authorities with a longer vision. Whatever said and done for a reforming unit winning is a bonus at this stage. Winning is not a must, according to what we are and what we have gone through. We are looking at a new beginning. The team will continue training until end of August, going through a professional and systematic way. We will move on gradually, by playing against local Provincial teams and then some International sides to build up the momentum, which we hope to sustain for a long time," bundled up the bold headed coach.

"We should respect India and Maldives, our group opponents at the upcoming SAFF Cup for the obvious reasons that both these teams are ranked well above us, and they are two of the competitive teams that have progressed from the region. But that does not mean that we should go out as a weak team or the underdogs of the group"