Revenge on India’s mind

Thiruvananthapuram, Hosts India are expected to face a tough task when they lock horns with a rampaging Afghanistan in a high-voltage SAFF Cup final here on Sunday.
Both teams won all of their matches convincingly on their way to the final.
The visitors have been on a scoring spree, which includes a 5-0 hammering of Sri Lanka in the semifinals. They had a goal difference of +10 in the group stages. India on the other hand edged past Maldives 3-2 in their semifinal.
The last time the two sides met in the final of the SAFF Cup, in 2013, it was Afghanistan who had emerged victorious (2-0). But Stephen Constantine and his men will be confident of turning the tables this time around.
A driving factor for the hosts will be the home crowd. The stadium has seen decent turnout throughout the tournament.
The Indian defence will have to play out of their skins. Containing the likes of Masih Saighani, Ahmad Hatifie and Hassan Amin will be no easy task.
The head-to-head record speaks in favour of India — out of the six matches played so far, India have won four, drawn one and lost one.
Afghanistan favourites,says Constantine
Constantine feels that Afghanistan will be the favourites on Sunday.
“Afghanistan are the favourites because they have 15 players who play mostly in Europe. There is a huge gap between Asian and European players,” the India coach said.
“In fact, after the match against Guam, almost all had raised eyebrows saying how we lose to a country that has a population of 90,000. But what all didn’t realise was that it was a team of US-based players.
“But we will be playing at home and I hope the fans cheer behind us and we can use it as an advantage,” Constantine added.
The British coach said that the Indian defenders will have to be at the top of their game in order to keep the in-form Afghan strikers at bay.
“It is going to be a very difficult game. They can score goals and we need to be careful,” he said.
Referring to India losing the momentum in the second half of their semifinal against Maldives, Constantine said: “In football, when you are in control of a game, you tend to become a bit sloppy. That’s what happened in the semifinal. And if that happens in the final, we will have to pay the price.”
“Obviously with such a young squad and with such little time to prepare for the tournament, it feels nice to be in the final. We took each game as it came,” he added.
Talking about India’s chances in the final, the coach said, “We will fight from the first to the last minute. If we play at our best and they don’t have a good day, we can win.”
“Afghanistan are certainly good, but they are not unbeatable. We cannot afford to make silly mistakes like we did in the semifinal.”