SAFF Championship 2013: We owe the fans a trophy – India goalkeeper Karanjit Singh

The 2013 SAFF Championship will see the Indian national team return to Nepal, also the venue of their disastrous AFC Challenge 2012 campaign, where they crashed out from the group stage after losing all three games and failing to even score even once.

A year after that disappointment in Nepal, India failed to even qualify for the 2014 Challenge Cup after losing their final qualifying game against hosts Myanmar in March 2013.

So, despite the Nehru Cup success last year, its fair to say that the Indian national team has gone backwards in the last 18 months but have the chance to restore some pride by retaining the SAFF Cup, which they won two years ago in New Delhi.

Salgaocar goalkeeper Karanjit Singh was one of the key members of that SAFF Cup triumph, notably making two top class saves against Afghanistan in the final when the score was 0-0. The 27-year-old now aims to make up for the twin disappointments in the AFC Challenge Cup by lifting the SAFF Championship crown in Kathmandu next month.

“We have had some disappointments recently. First the 2012 Challenge Cup and then most recently in the 2014 Challenge Cup qualifiers where we were a little unlucky also to lose the last game narrowly. So, we owe our fans a trophy now and therefore must do everything to win the SAFF Cup again. It won’t be easy but we have the quality to do it,” Karanjit told Sportskeeda in an exclusive chat.

Although India are the most successful nation in SAFF Cup history with six titles, on paper at least they no longer look the best side in the sub-continent with vast improvements being made by the likes of Afghanistan and Maldives.

There will be no home advantage also for India unlike the 2011 edition and they are placed in a tricky group alongside hosts Nepal, Bangladesh and arch-rivals Pakistan but Karanjit remains confident.

“It is true that many countries in the sub-continent have improved but we must focus on our qualities because if we play to our full potential we will have a great chance of retaining the title. We will take all our opponents seriously and will be well aware that Nepal will have an edge due to their home advantage but that won’t decrease our belief,” Karanjit opined.

As part of their SAFF Cup preparations, India face Tajikistan in an international friendly on August 14 before having a preparatory camp in Bangalore from August 16 onwards. The friendly against Tajikistan will only be India’s third under Wim Koevermans and Karanjit believes it’s the perfect preparation for a tournament that is very special to him.

“The friendly against Tajikistan is a good opportunity for us to both get some match practice and at the same time record a good result to boost our FIFA Rankings because we haven’t played many international friendlies recently. After that we have the camp and its important to make the most of the time that we have before the tournament.

“SAFF Cup was the first competition that I won with the national team so it’s very special for me and hopefully I will get to win it this time also,” the two-time I-League goalkeeper of the year concluded.