SAFF Championship
Kuwait edged hosts India to top Group A, while Lebanon finished ahead of Bangladesh in Group B to mean two nations from South Asia and this year's two guest countries from West Asia remain in the hunt for the title.
In what has been arguably the most captivating SAFF Championship in many a year, debutants Kuwait and Lebanon have impressed while neighbours India and Bangladesh aim to add to the titles they have previously won. The-AFC.com previews Saturday’s mouth-watering semi-final double-header.
Kuwait vs Bangladesh
How they got here
Kuwait got off to the best possible start in the tournament curtain-raiser against Nepal, registering a 3-1 win with in-form forward Shabaib Al Khaldi scoring the pick of the goals when he turned his marker before firing low into the net.
In their following match, the 1980 AFC Asian Cup™ champions cruised to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Pakistan aided by Mobarak Al-Faneeni’s brace, before rescuing a 1-1 draw against India to finish top of Group A by virtue of having scored a goal more than the host nation.
On the other hand, Bangladesh had a contrasting start to their campaign after they lost 2-0 to Lebanon in their opening match. However, they bounced back with a superb 3-1 victory against two-time winners Maldives in which Shekh Morsalin and Rakib Hossain impressed.
The duo was once again the driving force as Bangladesh rounded off their group stage in second place after a come-from-behind 3-1 success versus Bhutan.
Head-to-head record
Bangladesh will have to break new ground on Saturday against Kuwait if they are to reach the SAFF Championship final, with the only two previous meetings seeing the latter triumph in both.
The first meeting took place in 1973 at the Merdeka Tournament in Malaysia in which Kuwait won 2-1, followed by a 4-0 win in Daejeon at the 1986 Asian Games where much of Kuwait's squad was made up of their FIFA World Cup™ 1982 contingent.
Key players
Kuwait
An imposing presence in the Kuwait attack, Shabaib Al Khaldi is a man in form having arrived in India on the back of scoring braces against Zambia and Sudan in their warm-up matches before netting a lovely goal against Nepal, with his aerial prowess capable of posing a significant threat to the Bangladeshi backline.
An imposing presence in the Kuwait attack, Shabaib Al Khaldi is a man in form having arrived in India on the back of scoring braces against Zambia and Sudan in their warm-up matches before netting a lovely goal against Nepal, with his aerial prowess capable of posing a significant threat to the Bangladeshi backline.
Khalid El Ibrahim (pictured above) is a crucial part of this Kuwaiti side and can also be a threat from set-pieces as evidenced in their tournament’s opening goal. The Qadsia SC centre-back will be key to organising his team’s defence in the semi-final.
Bangladesh
Arguably the revelation of this SAFF Championship 2023 so far has been 17-year-old Shekh Morsalin. Having made his international debut recently against Cambodia, Morsalin came off the bench and showed maturity beyond his years when he cut inside to score against Maldives which prompted head coach Javier Cabrera to give him his first start versus Bhutan where he rifled in a stunning goal to display exactly why he is the country’s hottest prospect.
The captain and the heartbeat of the Bengal Tigers, Jamal Bhuyan has been deployed in more advanced positions in wins over Maldives and Bhutan, with his versatility set to be key once again as he hopes to lead Bangladesh to their first SAFF Championship final in 18 years.
Lebanon vs India
How they got here
Lebanon had to be patient in their first Group B match versus Bangladesh where two late goals earned them all three points, before easing past Bhutan 4-1 in their next game.
The Cedars remain the only team with a 100 per cent record in this year's SAFF Championship after concluding their group stage with a narrow 1-0 win over Maldives to claim top spot in their group without much fuss.
They will next be up against familiar opponents India, who began with a 4-0 victory against Pakistan, followed by a 2-0 success against their northern neighbours Nepal with their recent red-hot form seeing them climb into the top 100 in the latest FIFA rankings for the first time since 2018.
Knowing they needed all three points against Kuwait to top the standings in their final group game, India were on course to achieve it until a second-half stoppage time own goal from Anwar Ali meant they had to settle for a draw as they finished second in Group A due to having scored one goal less than the Kuwaitis.
Head-to-head record
The visitors have a slightly better head-to-head record against India with three wins compared to the hosts’ two, while three matches have ended in a stalemate.
However, the Blue Tigers won the most recent clash 2-0 in the Intercontinental Cup final in June following a scoreless draw in the group stage. The SAFF Championship semi-final is now set to be their third clash in three weeks as both teams continue their build-ups to the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023.
Key players
Lebanon
Hassan Maatouk is his country’s most-capped player as well as the all-time top-scorer with his vision and ability on the ball making him a potential game-changer. The 35-year-old yet again underlined his credentials by scoring crucial goals against both Bangladesh and Maldives and he now sets his eyes to go up against India once more.
A mainstay of Nejmeh SC in recent years, Khalil Bader has found his goalscoring boots in the SAFF Championship, scoring his first-ever international goals against Bangladesh and Bhutan, and he will be hoping to continue his excellent run against the hosts in the semi-final.
India
The man for the big occasion, Sunil Chhetri has scored in each of India’s SAFF Championship matches, including a memorable hat-trick against Pakistan as he has now moved level with Maldives legend Ali Ashfaq as the tournament’s all-time top-scorer, in the process taking his total international goals tally to 92.
Despite conceding a late own goal in their previous match, the Indian defence has stood tall under the stewardship of Igor Stimac with Sandesh Jhingan being a pivotal reason behind the Blue Tigers’ eight successive clean sheets prior to the draw with Kuwait. The hard-tackling centre-back will once again be in charge of keeping things tidy at the back as the eight-time champions contineue their quest of reaching yet another SAFF Championship final.
Photos: South Asian Football Federation
