SAFF Championship 2013: India 1-0 Pakistan – Five talking points

Sunil Chhetri cannot be wasteful

It is no secret that India are overdependent on captain Sunil Chhetri and that was evident in the Pakistan game as well because no other player looked like scoring. However, worryingly, the 29-year-old skipper was uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal as he squandered around five chances, with three of them being one-on-one situations. Sunil even failed to hit the target on those three golden opportuities and something like that can affect the confidence of the very best players also.

The current squad, in any case lacks, experience and confidence because of some poor results in this calendar year and the last thing that Koevermans would want is his star player to lose form. India might have got away with such dismal finishing against Pakistan but will surely be punished by Afghanistan or Maldives if they don’t take their chances. Sunil clearly has a lot of pressure on his shoulders and has stepped up in the past like the last SAFF Championship in New Delhi where he finished the tournament’s best player and top scorer.

However, as daunting as it sounds, Sunil might have to repeat that showing and possibly even better that somehow because his team has got weaker in the last two years. Besides the goals and assists, Sunil will also have to lead by example and help out the youngsters in the squad. He would also have to keep himself fit of course and even that won’t be easy considering the fixture congestion at SAFF 2013 and the fact that he hasn’t played 90 minutes too often in the last 12 months.