SAFF Championship 2013: This is the weakest Indian team – Maldives skipper Ali Ashfaq

Maldives skipper and talisman Ali Ashfaq has called the current Indian side the weakest that he has ever seen in his career. Maldives’ goalless draw with Afghanistan on Friday saw them top group B and set up a semifinal showdown with six-time record champions and holders India.

Ashfaq spoke to some of the travelling Indian media including Sportskeeda after the Afghanistan game and admitted that Wim Koevermans’ side have plenty of weaknesses

“Yes (this is the weakest India team). I have been playing against them since the 2005 SAFF Championship and I feel this team has a lot of weaknesses,” he said via a translator.

However, Ashfaq, who turned 28 on Friday, refused to call Maldives the favourites and is expecting a tough semifinal.

“See we have been among the favourites in this tournament ever since we won in 2008 but it would be wrong to call any team favourites in a match. We saw how well Bhutan played against us so we can’t take anything for granted. We have to prepare well and hope to get the desired result,” Ashfaq stated.

Maldives were beaten by India in the last two editions but Ashfaq doesn’t feel revenge is the right word ahead of this year’s semifinal meeting.

“Those two matches are part of history now, we are not going to dwell on it. We are not looking for revenge but we do want to win the tournament so we were always prepared to face any team in any round,” he said.

Maldives’ Hungarian head coach Istvan Urbanyi revealed in the post-match press conference that Ashfaq had requested not to field him as he was carrying a booking and the player himself further explained the situation.

“Yes I had requested the coach. He had discussions with everybody in the team and coaching staff and took a decision,” he said.

Ashfaq already has broken plenty of records in this SAFF Championship with ten goals in two games. At club level, he has also inspired New Radiant to the AFC Cup quarter-finals and the South Asian superstar admitted that this is the best phase of his career but still would prefer team glory over individual honours.

“Yes this is the best time of my career and I am happy with my performances here but most important is the team for me. We have to do everything to try and lift the title,” Ashfaq commented

Several times in his career, Ashfaq has been linked with a move to India before and he remained diplomatic when being asked this time about a possible transfer to the I-League in the near future.

The interaction concluded with Ashfaq admitting that next year’s AFC Challenge Cup is Maldives’ best chance to qualify for the Asian Cup as his country will be the hosts.