SAFF Championship 2013 Preview: Bangladesh vs India

Venue: Halchowk Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal

Kickoff: Tuesday, September 3 2013, 03:15pm IST,

Do-or-die Situation

What looked like a good calendar year for Bangladesh football could eventually turn out to be disappointing if their national team fails to reach the semi-finals of SAFF Championship 2013. Following the appointment of Dutchman Lodewijk de Kruif in January, Bangladesh showed improvement as they finished second in their AFC Challenge Cup qualifying group and were only denied qualification by a last-minute rule change from Asian football’s governing body.

Krufi admitted at the pre-tournament press conference that his side took time to get over that disappointment and rightly pointed out that they are not among the favourites for SAFF 2013. Surprisingly though, it wasn’t a view that the travelling Bangladeshi media wanted to hear and they are now piling the pressure on the Dutch coach following the 2-0 defeat to Nepal in the opening game.

Among all the seven foreign nations at this year’s SAFF Championship, Bangladesh have the maximum representation in terms of media personnel and they are absolutely frustrated with their team’s performance and result in the first game. So the second match has become a must-win for Kruif and his players, not only to keep their semi-final hopes alive, but also to prove those local critics wrong. To be fair to Kruif, he was missing his inspirational captain Mamunul Islam against Nepal while star striker Shakhawat Hossain Rony wasn’t also completely match fit and only came on as a substitute.

The Bangladesh team looked completely overawed by Nepal’s home support and hardly worked the home side’s goalkeeper Kiran Kumar Limbu. It’s fair to say that Bangladesh will stand no chance of getting anything against India if they repeat that performance so surely an improvement will be seen.

On a positive note, Bangladesh will be encouraged by India’s poor first half display against Pakistan and would be aware that if they don’t self-destruct at the back and contain Sunil Chhetri, there is every chance of keeping a clean sheet in this game. That would give them an ideal platform to go on and take three points, something which they must do remain in contention for a place in the last four.

It would be interesting to see how many changes Kruif makes to the team that in many people’s view failed to turn up against Nepal but the Dutch tactician will also be tempted to not make too many changes as the majority of this team did very well at the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers against Nepal and Palestine in March. They maybe the underdogs, but the Bangladesh camp is under plenty of pressure from their local media to cause an upset in this game and bounce back in the tournament.

Winning Start

India might have made a winning start in the tournament but their performance was far from impressive and has raised doubts about their ability to defend the title this time. Wim Koevermans’ side were second best for almost three quarters of the game as they failed to keep possession, didn’t keep their shape and defensively got exposed by Pakistan. It won’t be wrong to say that India were a bit lucky and may not have got three points against a better team than Pakistan.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom as the second half showing was, overall, much better than the first and they finished the game very strongly as their physical levels didn’t drop like Pakistan. India also created a lot of chances in the final quarter of the game and if Sunil Chhetri had been clinical, they could have easily won by a three-goal margin.

Such an emphatic victory would have flattered India, so it is just as well that it was only 1-0 because it would keep a young squad focused with full knowledge of the fact that there is plenty of room for improvement. Koevermans has talked about winning five finals and thus has called for equal focus for every game but for the Bangladesh game, he would surely demand more from his players as another slack display like the first half showing against Pakistan could cost them valuable points.

One of the big concerns for the Dutch coach will be fatigue as India have had only a day’s rest while Bangladesh could afford two and the 53-year-old pointed out that disadvantage on Monday. However, India cannot make excuses and must look to make the most of Bangladesh’s fragile confidence following that defeat to Nepal.

While Sunil Chhetri would have to be more clinical and the defence more solid, it is the midfield that must give a consistent display throughout the game. India couldn’t retain possession at all in the first half and only controlled the game when Pakistan switched to a four-man midfield. Koevermans would be determined to secure qualification to the semis before the last group game against hosts Nepal, and having watched Bangladesh in their game, he would have surely recognised their weakness in defending set-pieces.

Koevermans also played down the sub-plot of him coming up against his student Kruif and is well aware that while the win over arch-rivals Pakistan has reduced the negativity around the national team back home, any result other than a win in this game won’t be good enough. India have enough quality on paper to beat Bangladesh and thus should achieve that if they are at their best.

Form Guide

Bangladesh: DLWWL

The defeat to Nepal was Bangladesh’s second loss under Kruif in four games and undoubtedly the most disappointing result of his tenure as the other defeat came against higher-ranked Palestine. They last faced India at SAFF 2009 and were beaten 1-0 at home in the semi-finals.

India: WWLLW

The victory over Pakistan was only India’s third win in six games under Koevermans in foreign shores and all of them have come against lower-ranked nations. Bangladesh is placed 13 spots below India currently, thus the holders will be expected to win.

Team News

Bangladesh

Captain and midfielder Mamunul Islam, striker Shakhawat Hossain Rony and midfielder Sohel Rana are all expected to make a return to the first eleven despite still not being 100 percent fit. Kruif is expected to take a gamble on the trio as this is a must-win game.

Probable XI: 4-4-2 – Mamun Khan; Mohammed Linkon, Ariful Islam, Mohammed Nasiruddin Chowdhury, Waly Faisal; Sohel Rana, Mamunul Islam, Jamal Bhuiyan, Taklis Ahmed; Jahid Hasan Ameli, Shakhawat Hossain Rony

India:

Wim Koevermans will be tempted to rotate his team around as they are having to play twice in as many days but would first aim to secure the passage to the semi-finals by picking the best possible eleven. There are likely to be two changes from the lineup that started against Pakistan with Nabi expected to replace Mohanraj at left back and Jewel Raja could get the nod ahead of Alywn George in the number ten role behind lone striker Sunil.

Probable XI: 4-4-1-1 – Subrata Pal; Nirmal Chettri, Gouramangi Singh, Arnab Mondal, Syed Rahim Nabi; Francis Fernandes, Mehtab Hossain, Lenny Rodrigues; Jeje Lalpekhlua; Jewel Raja; Sunil Chhetri

Player to watch

Bangladesh: Jamal Bhuyan

The Denmark-based midfielder is the only foreign-born player in the Bangladesh squad and didn’t do too badly in the Nepal game despite his team’s defeat. However, Bhuyan possibly stood out as the rest of the team was poor and he may be able to produce his best with the return of skipper Mamun alongside him in central midfield.

India: Sunil Chhetri

The India captain hardly got into the game against Pakistan for about an hour but came alive when India started creating chances from counter attacks in the second half. Sunil might be disappointed with his finishing but he is experienced enough to put that behind him and will aim to have a more meaningful impact in this game.