Sunil Chettri-led Indian football team will open their SAFF Championships campaign by locking horns with Bangladesh later in the evening at the Male National Stadium in Maldives. The match is scheduled to begin at 4:30 pm (IST). The five team flagship football tournament between the South Asian nations will witness India compete against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives to vie for top regional soccer honours. It is notable that Pakistan and Bhutan are notable absentees in this edition of the tournament.
Sunil Chettri-led Indian football team will open their SAFF Championships campaign by locking horns with Bangladesh later in the evening at the Male National Stadium in Maldives. The match is scheduled to begin at 4:30 pm (IST). The five team flagship football tournament between the South Asian nations will witness India compete against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives to vie for top regional soccer honours. It is notable that Pakistan and Bhutan are notable absentees in this edition of the tournament.
The 5-team tournament will be played in a round robin format from October 1 to October 16 with each team taking on each other once before the top two sides making it to the finals.
Dubbed as the strong title favourites, India do have a tough group opener as they take on an upbeat Bangladesh team which beat Sri Lanka by a goal in their opening match played on October 1.
If one were to go back into recent history, Bangladesh had forged a draw against India in their first leg of the 2022 World Cup qualifier match. The 'Blue Tigers' had bounced back strongly to win the second leg by a two goal margin .
India has been the dominant powerhouse in the SAFF Championships, winning the South Asian regional title seven times. The 'Blue Tigers' ended up as runner-up to Maldives in the last edition of the tournament played in 2018.
Here is a look at India’s full squad for the SAFF Championship 2021
Goalkeepers: Dheeraj Singh, Vishal Kaith, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Chinglensana Singh Konsham, Mandar Rao Dessai, Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose, Seriton Fernandes.
Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Lalengmawia, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Jeakson Singh, Glan Martins, Suresh Singh, Liston Colaco, Yasir Mohammad.
Forwards: Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali, Sunil Chhetri, Farukh Choudhary
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