Kathmandu: Listless so far in the tournament, defending champions India take on hosts Nepal in their last group match with a semifinal berth at stake in the SAFF Football Championships here on Thursday.
With the lacklustre performance India have dished out so far, it will not be easy for Wim Koevermans men to achieve that against the home team.
The match begins at 3:15pm IST.
Having opened their campaign by scraping past Pakistan and then almost being beaten by Bangladesh before managing a last-gasp equaliser, India never looked like defending champions.
Group A is wide open and all the four teams have a chance to make it to the semifinals. Nepal and India are on four points with a goal difference of plus two and plus one respectively while Pakistan and Bangladesh are on one point with minus one and minus two goal difference, respectively.
Even if India lose, they will still qualify for the semis if Pakistan beat Bangladesh in the other group match, which will be played simultaneously, because India beat Pakistan and the head-to-head result will be considered first in case there is a tie between two teams.
If India lose to Nepal without scoring a goal and Bangladesh beat Pakistan by a margin of two goals, then Koevermans’ men will be out.
India begin as overwhelming favourites, however, having won nine out of 11 matches the two sides have played with two draws.
India had also emerged victorious in the last two meetings between the two teams in the SAFF Championships.
The last meeting between the two sides, however, resulted in a 0-0 stalemate in the 2012 Nehru Cup.
Koevermans knows fully well the impact the crowd support can have on a team but said his players are raring to go.
“Across the world, a packed stadium defines football. The atmosphere at Dasrath Stadium is just wonderful. Obviously the home support will be an extra help for Nepal. But that’s how it goes,” Koevermans said after the team’s training session on Wednesday.
Koevermans though was not happy with the scheduling of the tournament.
“Playing every alternate day will have its effect. Players often carry that fatigue into the next match and the energy tank gets empty. But the medical team is working 24×7,” he said. (PTI)
