Thimphu, Sep 27: A buoyant Indian football team will take on Nepal in the semi-finals of the SAFF U17 Championship here on Saturday, hoping to continue its good run of form in the continental age-group tournament.
The Blue Colts eased into the last four as Group A table toppers after beating Bangladesh (1-0) and Maldives (3-0).Nepal, on the other hand, sneaked into the semi-finals, thanks to a late winner against Bhutan in their last group match, which lifted them to second place in Group B behind Pakistan, who will face Bangladesh in the second semi-finals later on Saturday.India have had ample rest between their matches so far, including three full days to prepare for their semi-finals.
Head coach Ishfaq Ahmed stated that the rest days for players are more about recovery and staying injury-free.“This rest is about recovering because we are playing on artificial turf. It’s not easy to play and train on turf everyday. It has its negative impacts also. We’ve been training mostly to recover our boys.“It has been raining here everyday and we are stuck inside the hotel. Sometimes that can be a good thing because you spend a lot of time with each other and that helps. The best part is that there are no injuries,” said Ahmed. (PTI)
