Indian Football round-up: 5 farces- the 'historic' moments of 2018

#1 Overconfident U23 Indian team at the SAFF Championships

Subhashish Bose was India's skipper during the SAFF Championships

Being the most successful team in the history of the SAFF Cup tournament and going by its recent form, it was expected that the ‘Blue Tigers’ would clinch their 8th SAFF Championship title. But a 1-2 loss to the Maldives, a lower-ranked team was the least that was expected from the national team. The players alone can’t be blamed for the outcome.

In an attempt to give youngsters an opportunity at the top level, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) overlooked the cream of the squad, leaving behind skipper Sunil Chhetri, veterans like Balwant Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Sandesh Jhingan.

The federation was under the assumption that a second-string team comprising the U-23 players was capable of pulling off the coup but they fell short at the end. Although India convincingly reached the finals, Maldives had the last laugh.

With a big ticket tournament like AFC Asian Cup around the corner, coach Stephen Constantine should have played his senior members as a part of the preparation for the continental meet.

The Englishman said that lack of experience was the main reason for the downfall in the title clash. This tournament should have been made to use more judiciously by the federation then. What to say? They were just overconfident.