SAFF Championship Semi-Final Preview: India vs Maldives - The Battle Between South Asia's Best Strikers

The two countries have made it a habit of crushing each other’s dream of winning the Cup. This is the fourth straight SAFF Championship in which they have run into each other in the knock-out stages with India having got the better of Maldives twice, including the final of the last edition, which was sweet revenge for both, their group stage loss in 2009 as well as the defeat in the 2008 Finals.

Maldives will now be plotting their own vengeance and come into this semi-final in top form, having dumped Bangladesh out of the competition en-route to topping Group B.

The Ali Ashfaq inspired outfit have been lethal on the counter. They have shown good passing ability under pressure and will fancy their chances against the hosts, who have been erratic so far.

The Duo Will Have To Be Clinical Upfront....

India were devoid of ideas in their draw against Afghanistan, a match they could well have ended up losing. They then went on to beat Bhutan 5-0 and made heavy weather of their tie against Sri Lanka in the first half before finally prevailing 3-0.

The Indian midfield has been lacking in both, bite and creativity with the wingers also supplying no real width or quality, aside from the win against Bhutan, whom Afghanistan showed up as being nothing more than a team making up the numbers. Thier passing has been mediocre and generally the players seem to lack confidence.

However knockout stages can bring the best out of teams, and India will be hoping to take inspiration from their U-23 colleagues, who made a slow start in the last SAFF Championship before edging out Maldives in the final.

Samir Naik is back in contention for a place in the Indian line-up, a relief to Savio Medeira as Naik’s experience might come up handy if Ali Ashfaq rampages down his wing.

ALI ASHFAQ:

The man nicknamed "Dhagandey" which means the Man of Steel is the talisman of this talented Maldives outfit and often regarded as the best forward in South Asia, though Sunil Chhetri might have something to say about that.

His pace, trickery and general ability on the ball has left several defenders chasing shadows in this SAFF Championship, where he has been in great form, scoring important goals as well as setting up his team-mate Ahmed Thariq for a crucial double in the win over Bangladesh, which sealed their qualification as group winners.

The Indian defence, which apart from Syed Rahim Nabi lacks pace, will have a tough time handling this tricky customer, who has a knack of showing up across the frontline. Stopping him will be pivotal to India’s hopes of making it to the final.

Sunil Chhetri:

Who else but him? The striker, who grew up in Delhi, has shrugged off the disappointment of his trial with Rangers to yet again prove his value to the Indian setup with his goals, having scored in each of the three group matches, including a crucial equalizer against Afghanistan.

Starved of service from midfield, Chhetri has almost taken it upon himself to score as well as create goals for his team, a fact which was highlighted when Sri Lanka closed down the space around the Mohun Bagan forward in the first half, leaving India’s other attackers clueless. Given more room to work with in the second half, Chhetri played a vital part in Jeje’s opener before himself getting on the score-sheet.

• No SAFF Championship final has taken place without either India or Maldives in it. A trend which shall now continue this year as well.

• India and Maldives have played each other 15 times with India having the clear upperhand with 9 victories compared to a mere 4 for Maldives.

• The highest margin of victory between the two teams was India’s 5-0 triumph over Maldives in 1987.

• While the biggest win in the SAFF Championships was in 1997, when a IM Vijayan brace helped India to a 5-1 triumph.

• Sunil Chhetri, who has four goals in the Championship and has scored a goal in each of their group matches, will be eyeing IM Vijayan’s six goal tally of 1997, which is still the highest number of goals scored by an individual in a single edition.