SAFF Championship 2013: Five things we learned about India from the group stage

India’s dominance in South Asia is under threat

India are the record six-time champions and the current holders of the SAFF Championship but coming into this edition, they were not the best team in the sub-continent. Afghanistan are currently the highest ranked team in South Asia while Maldives have also improved in recent years. India didn’t have either of those teams in their group and yet only crawled their way into the semis. A fortuitous own goal saw them record a narrow 1-0 win over arch-rivals Pakistan and then they needed an injury time freekick from Sunil Chhetri to earn a 1-1 draw with Bangladesh.

With a place in the semifinals still not confirmed, Koevermans’ side was expected to raise their game against hosts Nepal but that didn’t happen as they were beaten 2-1 with Nabi’s late goal giving some respectability to the scoreline. It was India’s first defeat against Nepal at senior level in two decades while the senior team also suffered their first loss at SAFF group stage since 2003. All those unconvincing displays came against lower ranked teams and gave further proof of India’s decline in the South Asian region.

What will disappoint the fans more than the result is that India were outplayed for the majority of the group stage by teams that they used to beat easily even three or four years ago. In the semi-finals it only gets tougher for Wim Koevermans and his players.