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What's the story?
The Indian Men's National Team has been grouped with South Asian neighbours the Maldives and Sri Lanka in Group B during the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Suzuki Cup 2018 Bangladesh today in Dhaka. The defending champions will begin their campaign against Sri Lanka on 5th September, 2018.
In case you didn't know..
The SAFF Cup, also known as the SAFF Championship is the main association football competition for men, hosted by the South Asian Football Federation. India are the most successful team in the tournament with seven titles. Maldives, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have all won the title once since it's inception in 1993.
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Afghanistan has switched federations as they have moved to Central Asia Football Association (CAFA), a year ago.
The heart of the matter
Seven teams will participate in the sub-continental football championship in September 2018 in Bangladesh. This will be the third time, Bangladesh would host the tournament. The tournament is all set to run from 4th September 2018 to 15th September 2018.
The host nation has been grouped with Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan in Group A while India have been grouped with the Maldives and Sri Lanka in Group B.
India will lock horns with Sri Lanka on 5th September. India will then go on to face the Maldives in their second and final group encounter against the Maldives on 9th September.
The semifinals are slated to take place on 12th September with the final scheduled on 15th September.
What's next?
The domestic season in India is nearing an end with the Super Cup Final two days away leaving all the players free. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is expected to announce few friendlies before the SAFF Cup to prep them up for the event.
The draw for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 is also scheduled to take place on 5th May.
Author's Take
Although the teams are relatively weaker compared to India's stature in football in South Asia, Constantine needs to be wary of taking the teams lightly. With the prestigious AFC Asian Cup 2019 in sight, the Indian gaffer could use SAFF Cup as the perfect stage to provide much-needed game time to the youngsters who have been deprived of first-team experience for several months in the International Arena.
