Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Dhaka: With India having secured a summit clash with Maldives in the final of the 2018 SAFF Cup at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka on Saturday, head coach Stephen Constantine reflected that the "final will be a tough one".
"Maldives have shown their worth in the semi-final against Nepal. A 3-0 win against Nepal was not an easy task. Some of their players didn't play against us and they did some major damage work against Nepal,” Constantine stated. “We are expecting a tough game against Maldives. But as I said before, we have come with a strong intent to win the tournament.”
Manvir Singh, who scored a brace against Pakistan in the semi-final to win his successive MVP Award of the tournament, said the focus has “already shifted to the final.”
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Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Dhaka: India stayed perfect while Maldives roared as both teams advanced to the final of the 2018 SAFF Cup on Wednesday.
Defending champions India saw off Pakistan's challenge 3-1 in their semi-final while Maldives produced their best performance so far to defeat Nepal 3-0 in their last four tie at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
It will be a rematch between the two teams on Saturday, with India having beaten Maldives 2-0 in their Group B clash earlier in the tournament.
After a tight first half, India took the lead three minutes into the restart with Manvir Singh scoring with a right footed shot into the bottom left corner.
Boosted by the goal, India pressed forward and Manvir Singh doubled their lead in the 69th minute when he rifled the ball into the top right corner of the Pakistan goalmouth.
Sumit Passi headed home India's third in the 84th minute before Hassan Bashir scored a consolation for Pakistan two minutes from full time.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Dhaka: India cruised to the semi-finals of the 2018 SAFF Cup but there was joy despite the 2-0 defeat to the defending champions for Maldives at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday.
India finished as Group B winners but Maldives also advanced to the last four after a coin toss was needed to determine who would be the second team into the last four.
Sri Lanka had also lost to India by the same score on Wednesday and as luck would have it, they missed out on the semi-finals after losing the coin toss.
India will play Pakistan in the semi-finals while Maldives will meet Nepal.
Two first-half goals from Nikhil Poojary and Manvir Singh gave Stephen Constantine’s team victory against Maldives.
“It was a very difficult first half. We didn’t get going in the first 20-25 minutes which is what happened in the previous match as well. We need to start quicker. But we have some really good young players coming through, and we got the goals we deserved. We could have got more goals, but 2-0 is a good result and we’re happy we’re going through to the semi-final," said Constantine.
India have placed their faith in an U-23 squad but going into the semi-finals with a perfect record is sure to motivate the players as they seek to defend the title.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Bengaluru: Sunil Chhetri has insisted that India have improved dramatically since the 2011 AFC Asian Cup as the forward prepares to lead his country into the 2019 edition in the United Arab Emirates in January.
Chhetri was 26 when the South Asians competed in the continental competition in Qatar just under eight years ago, when the Blue Tigers were eliminated in the group stage after suffering heavy defeats to Australia, Bahrain and Korea Republic.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
As teams step up their preparations for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, we look at those who stood out during the most recent round of international friendlies.
The international break saw as many as 11 fixtures bringing 2019 AFC Asian Cup participating sides head to head, while Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Japan and Korea Republic opted to face opponents from the Americas.
Non-qualified Asian teams including Kuwait, Malaysia, Laos and Indonesia were all in action too. Looking back at 10 days of international football, here are five players who impressed for their respective countries.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Osaka: Several of the Continent's top teams took their next step towards the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 with friendly matches on a busy night of action on Tuesday.
Japan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates all scored wins while Korea Republic earned a commendable draw against South American giants Chile.
Japan gave Costa Rica the runaround in a 3-0 home victory as Hajime Moriyasu got off to a winning start as head coach of the Blue Samurai.
Sho Sasaki's header was turned into his own goal by Bryan Oviedo after 16 minutes before second-half goals from Takumi Minamino and substitute Junya Ito settled a one-sided friendly in Osaka as four-time champions Japan kicked off their preparations for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Riffa: China PR may have concluded their two-match playing tour of West Asia without a win but head coach Marcello Lippi said the lessons learnt will be put to good use ahead of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.
China PR followed up last Friday's 1-0 defeat to Qatar in Doha with a 0-0 result against Bahrain in Riffa on Monday but Lippi wasn't overly concerned that the tour ended without a win for his team.
"We have to learn from the experience and shortcomings from this trip to West Asia. What is important is that we put these lessons to good use," said Lippi after the match against Bahrain.