Afghanistan challenge awaits India

Stephen Constantine will aim for his first title as India coach but defending champions Afghanistan pose a difficult challenge to his dreams as the two teams come face-to-face in the SAFF Cup final at Greenfield Stadium here on Sunday.

It was in 2013 that Afghanistan shocked the football world with their 2-0 win over India in the final of the previous edition SAFF Cup and time has only made the team better.

The team possess a formidable defence with only a goal conceded so far, and an aggressive attacking play with 16 strikes in as many as four matches.

A title win would be a huge boost for Constantine’s strategy of fielding young players. The coach has hand-picked several young players and it has yielded favourable results, despite a string of injuries to main players and lack of a proper preparatory camp.

The coach is optimistic about the team’s chances but admitted that Afghanistan have an edge. “Most of the players in the Afghanistan team are from European Leagues and there is a huge gap between European and the Asian players. But they are not unbeatable.

“We will fight from the first minute to last. If we play our best and they do not have a good day, we can win. We need to be very careful. We should not make silly mistakes,” said Constantine.

India will bank on captain Sunil Chhetri’s form which has been impressive so far, and also the midfield combination of Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Rowling Borges. Defence though is an area of concern for the hosts.

The hosts have mostly conceded soft goals and need to avoid such mistakes to have a chance in the final.

India have so far conceded three goals and struck nine times in the three matches played.“It’s hard to predict as to which area the match would be decided. It will be decided on all parts of the field. It is going to be a very difficult game. They are a team who can score goals,” Constantine said.

Afghanistan coach Peter Segrt believes that the final would be a difficult one despite their outstanding form.

“India will make it difficult for us. They have the players to do so and the crowd will also cheer for them. Their work rate has been tremendous,” said Segrt.