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SAFF CUP 2023: June 21st to July 4th hosted in Bengaluru India

nextover666666

nextover666666

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2023 SAFF CUP will start on June 21st, and India will be hosting this years additions

The tourney will consists of 8 teams, divided in 2 groups ( 4 teams in each group)

Group A
India ( Ranked 101)
Kuwait (Ranked 143)
Nepal ( Ranked 174)
Pakistan (Ranked 195)

Group B
Lebanon (Ranked 99)
Maldives (Ranked 154)
Bhutan (Ranked 185)
Bangladesh (Ranked 192)


As we can see Pakistan is the lowest ranked team, and have a tough group. It looks like Pakistan will end up losing all 3 games, however 1 win vs any of the teams can help boost our ranking. A draw would also be a good result, and IF somehow Pak, can get out of the group, than that would be a Massive achievement.

One thing I do like is that Pakistan despite having a poor showing in 4 Nations Mauritius cup, our team got to play 3 games, which can help in terms of building chemistry, this team has a long way to go, but we can only hope for the best and support Pakistan as much as possible.

India is the most successful team winning 8 times.
Maldives have won it 2 times
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have won it once each.

Pakistan and Bhutan never won a championship.

Pakistan best results are
3rd place 1997 by beating Sri Lanka 1-0 to capture the bronze medal

Pakistan also finished 3rd in 2005 and 2018, but their was no bronze medal match, teams who lost the semi finals were placed as 3rd place

Pakistan hosted Saff cup twice in their history
1993 which was the first edition and 2005
 
Match schedules

June 21 Kuwait vs Nepal
June 21 India vs Pakistan

June 22 Lebanon vs Bangladesh
June 22 Maldives vs Bhutan

June 24 Pakistan vs Kuwait
June 24 India vs Nepal

June 25 Bangladesh vs Maldives
June 25 Bhutan vs Lebanon

June 27 Nepal vs Pakistan
June 27 India vs Kuwait

June 28 Lebanon vs Maldives
June 28 Bhutan vs Bangladesh

July 1st both semi final matches will take place

July 4th finals will take place
 
nextover666666 said:
I would suspect a good turnout
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The match is tomorrow so not too far away to get the answer to question. The match will also give an insight into te gulf of difference between the two South Asian Sides. Heard that India is by far the strongest member among South Asian Sides.
 
boomboomcheema said:
The match is tomorrow so not too far away to get the answer to question. The match will also give an insight into te gulf of difference between the two South Asian Sides. Heard that India is by far the strongest member among South Asian Sides.
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India is favorites to win the whole tournament, they are suspected to win tomorrow. I would suspect a 3-0 win from them tomorrow.

Credit has to be given to Indian football they have come along way in terms of development within their national team.
 
Lebanon and Kuwait are decent teams that have been invited, Lebanon especially made the final round of Asian qualifiers for the last WC although don't suppose they are at full strength
 
OldWarHorse said:
Lebanon and Kuwait are decent teams that have been invited, Lebanon especially made the final round of Asian qualifiers for the last WC although don't suppose they are at full strength
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Lebanon and Kuwait, are decent teams, however recently Lebanon lost to India 2-0.

I think Lebanon will have a full squad, or atleast have a good number of players who play regular basis.
 
The Indian football team is set to begin the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship on Wednesday, with their first match of the tournament scheduled against Pakistan. Be it an Indo-Pak contest in cricket or football, this one particular contest is something that neither of the two sets of players wants to lose. India skipper Sunil Chhetri, explained how things turn from 'hunky-dory' to 'hostile' as soon as the referee blows the whistle to start the match between the two countries.

In a video shared by the Indian Super League, Chhetri shared his past experiences of playing against Pakistan. While the two countries' players are all friendly with each other before the match, things flip dramatically as soon as the match starts.

"Before the Pakistan match, whenever we met the boys, it was all hunky dory. Even when I was in Pakistan once or twice we've played here and there we were all fine and friendly. We are all nice, they speak Punjabi, we speak Punjabi, the moment the whistle blows I don't know what happens," Chettri said in the video.

"It's by default, just the sense of anyone but them. Maybe it's ingrained in our upbringing as Indians and I'm pretty sure they will say the same thing. The hostility, the fact that we don't want to lose against them comes in," he added.

The 14th edition of the SAFF Championship has been divided into two groups. India lies in Group A with, Kuwait, Nepal and Pakistan. Group B comprises Lebanon, Maldives, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Sunil Chhetri-led India are the highest-ranked team in Group A. They are 101st in the FIFA rankings. Kuwait are world No. 143 followed by Nepal at 174. Nepal were the runners-up in the last edition in 2021. Pakistan are ranked lowest at 195th.

The group stage will be played in a single round-robin format. The top two teams from each group will then play semi-final on July 1. The final is scheduled for July 4.

India have won SAFF Championship eight times and are the most successful team in the tournament. The Maldives are two-time champions while Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have won the title once each.

NDTV
 
Most of these boys earn a living doing day jobs and commit time meant for family/friends towards football and representing the country. Respect!

The Indian players on the other hand must be full time professional footballers sponsored by the govt. Despite this they haven't been able to make any great strides in football.
 
nextover666666 said:
Lebanon and Kuwait, are decent teams, however recently Lebanon lost to India 2-0.

I think Lebanon will have a full squad, or atleast have a good number of players who play regular basis.
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Yeah I hope it's their full team, would be a good test for the SAFF teams
 
shortbread said:
Most of these boys earn a living doing day jobs and commit time meant for family/friends towards football and representing the country. Respect!

The Indian players on the other hand must be full time professional footballers sponsored by the govt. Despite this they haven't been able to make any great strides in football.
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Because soccer just doesn’t work if government sponsors you, it requires consistent work from childhood.

Which Asian team has made any stride except Korea and Japan?

Look at China so much fan following and yet the same result.
 
Kuwait win their opening encounter vs Nepal by a score of 3-1

Goals scored by

Khalid El Ebrahim 23 mins (Kuwait)
Shabib Al Khaldi 41 mins (Kuwait)
Abdullah Daham 65 mins (Penalty goal) (Kuwait)
Anjan Bista 68 mins (Nepal)
 
10 mins in goal India Sunil CHhetri, stupid goal keeping error, his made 2 vs Djibouti, and this one is just horrible lost control of the ball and easy goal for India, if anyone can see the replay of that goal, and you will see why I am upset right now.

India Leads 1-0
 
Saqib Hanif is good goalkeeper but when it comes to ball control, he is one of the worst I have seen
 
Pakistan has gifted 2 goals to India in 15 mins, good job boys.

India is the stronger team, but when you play a stronger team, you can be making silly mistakes
 
Pakistan look nervous and tired and seem to be in panic mode, when they have the ball, they need to take a step back and relax, and try to be positive
 
anakwalajinn said:
Pretty much yes.

Atmosphere is good.

Too bad our boys bottled it already.

Why is Saqib Hanif playing over Yousaf Butt?
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That first goal By India changed the whole momentum of the match as well, the refs arent helping either, not taking anything away from India, but barely on calls on Indian players. India have a free kick in dangerous area now
 
For those wondering Pak did have a good chance I cant recall who the player was like a good chance near the box, and he kicked it way wide of the net.
 
What a pathetic start by Pakistan football team.2-0 in no time. Playing like a bunch of amateur, doesn't look like the team has many professionals who play full time .
 
Bangladesh is a stronger side than Pakistan in football. Pakistan are the minnows of South Asian football
 
boomboomcheema said:
Bangladesh is a stronger side than Pakistan in football. Pakistan are the minnows of South Asian football
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To be fair being suspended for 2 years and not playing on a regular basis does not help the teams either, but they had some good preparation for this....its okay to lose, but when you giving gifts to other teams, that is not okay
 
The other issue I have notice well watching this game, is when Pak gets the ball they try too many long balls, or try to do some long chips hoping to catch the Indian keeper off guard, like seriously, when you have the ball try to make the most of it, dont just give it back to them.
 
nextover666666 said:
To be fair being suspended for 2 years and not playing on a regular basis does not help the teams either, but they had some good preparation for this....its okay to lose, but when you giving gifts to other teams, that is not okay
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Well they are losing to everyone under the sun. Mauritius, Dijbouti , Kenya and God knows who. When are they going to even draw a match .

Might even lose to Bhutan if there is a match.
 
Even Afghans gives it tough to India , i remember they drew against India during the last WC qualifier matches. Only Pakistan is the ultimate minnow who loses to everyone.
 
boomboomcheema said:
Well they are losing to everyone under the sun. Mauritius, Dijbouti , Kenya and God knows who. When are they going to even draw a match .

Might even lose to Bhutan if there is a match.
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Kenya is a good team, and Djibouti and Mauritius football is primary sport in those nations, also African teams tend to be more physical and fast, but agree that if they continue at this rate, they will lose to Bhutan, Macau, and San Marino

Whats scary is they do not look like their getting better, but rather worse, the coach has not been good either for Pak.
 
Pakistani player was going for throw in, and Indian coach knocked it off his hand, we got tension PEOPLE i love it
 
Indian crowd now getting louder after than incident...INDIA....INDIA...however the Indian coach was wrong here
 
Even the Indian commentator agrees, it was not necessary by Indian coach on top of that your team is winning 2-0
 
Ball Possession
Ind - 85%
Pak - 25%

Passes
Ind - 234
Pak - 74

:nehra
 
RED CARD FOR INDIAN COACH oh wow cant remember when I saw something like this rightly deserved.
 
We got goalkeeping errors, a penalty shot, a crazy crowd, a coach getting a red card and lots of Rain, this is what India vs Pakistan matches can do haha
 
First Half comes to an end 2-0 India lead
Lord have Mercy what does the 2nd half have in store for us
Their is a lot of tension and its raining alot too...this game can get ugly in the second half, not just referring to score line, maybe more cards to be handed out
 
If my memory serves correct when Pak played India last time in Saff cup, that match I believe towards the second half had a lot of rain too hahaha
 
What a one sided match. Good opportunity for the opposition to score some easy goals while playing against Pakistan.
 
4th goal did look offside but it wouldnt make a difference PAK was always going to lose this match
 
We have a grand total of two good players from last 20 years and both from North East!
 
nextover666666 said:
India is favorites to win the whole tournament, they are suspected to win tomorrow. I would suspect a 3-0 win from them tomorrow.

Credit has to be given to Indian football they have come along way in terms of development within their national team.
Click to expand...

Full time India win 4-0, As I said prior to the match India would win easily, and are favorites. The issue I have with Pak, is we played 4 games, and their is not a sign of improvement, I am not referring to results, you can lose 4 games straight, but you see some improvement, you see the team is heading in the right direction type of thing, but Pak has look worse each game.

If Pak can somehow get a win vs Nepal consider that a win people, the way it looks we might lose that much as well.
 
India defeated Pakistan 4-0 in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship match in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

Indian captain Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick in a memorable win for the hosts.
 
nextover666666 said:
Full time India win 4-0, As I said prior to the match India would win easily, and are favorites. The issue I have with Pak, is we played 4 games, and their is not a sign of improvement, I am not referring to results, you can lose 4 games straight, but you see some improvement, you see the team is heading in the right direction type of thing, but Pak has look worse each game.

If Pak can somehow get a win vs Nepal consider that a win people, the way it looks we might lose that much as well.
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Soccer is hard to improve in short bursts, unlike cricket soccer requires consistent playing through competitive clubs and leagues that too from early age.
 
JaDed said:
Soccer is hard to improve in short bursts, unlike cricket soccer requires consistent playing through competitive clubs and leagues that too from early age.
Click to expand...

The improvement I am referring to, is about things that happen in the game, you can see something different results can be 4-0 ( 4 games straight) but you can still see something small that makes you say okay this is going to take time, but their going in the right directions, their is certain things they are doing better.

Alot of the players on Pak play in European Leagues, their not bad players either, but it just seems this particular group of players dont seem to perform well with each other. I still have not given up hope but their isnt improvement

The goalkeeper made the same mistake in previous match, and prior to Sunil first goal, like 2 mins prior he gave the ball straight to Sunil, and he missed a chance. At that point you would thing Saqib would be more careful when the ball comes to him, and how he wants to control it, but what does he do he says let me give sunil the ball once more, why not hahaha

I know to have a successful football team it takes years, like what India did, they didnt become top 100 team yesturday, this took many years, but they did the right things to get their team to that position.

It is not just India, most of the South Asian teams, have made great improvement.
Yes Pakistan was suspeneded for 2 years, that did not help, but still Pak played a good amount of games, which gives the chance for you to improve and get better.

Again its not about results, Pak can lose 12 matches in a row, but if we are seeing improvement we can trust the process and be patient, but when your getting worse by each game, than that is not good.
 
nextover666666 said:
The improvement I am referring to, is about things that happen in the game, you can see something different results can be 4-0 ( 4 games straight) but you can still see something small that makes you say okay this is going to take time, but their going in the right directions, their is certain things they are doing better.

Alot of the players on Pak play in European Leagues, their not bad players either, but it just seems this particular group of players dont seem to perform well with each other. I still have not given up hope but their isnt improvement

The goalkeeper made the same mistake in previous match, and prior to Sunil first goal, like 2 mins prior he gave the ball straight to Sunil, and he missed a chance. At that point you would thing Saqib would be more careful when the ball comes to him, and how he wants to control it, but what does he do he says let me give sunil the ball once more, why not hahaha

I know to have a successful football team it takes years, like what India did, they didnt become top 100 team yesturday, this took many years, but they did the right things to get their team to that position.

It is not just India, most of the South Asian teams, have made great improvement.
Yes Pakistan was suspeneded for 2 years, that did not help, but still Pak played a good amount of games, which gives the chance for you to improve and get better.

Again its not about results, Pak can lose 12 matches in a row, but if we are seeing improvement we can trust the process and be patient, but when your getting worse by each game, than that is not good.
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That’s a fair point maybe the occasion got to them as well and a loud crowd, Bangloreans are a super loud crowd.

If i recall Pakistan did win once 10 years ago or something against us.
 
Pakistan and Indian players engaged in a heated exchange during the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship match on Wednesday in Bengaluru.

The argument started in the 44th minute, just before the half-time whistle, when Indian coach Igor Stimac snatched the ball from Pakistan's Abdullah Iqbal as he was preparing for a throw-in.


Stimac was shown a red card for this offence and yellow cards were also shown to Sandesh Jhingan and Pakistan's Rahis Nabi for their role in the fracas.

Pakistan’s no. 5 Easah Suliman, who served the U-19 England football team as their captain, quickly jumped to the scene and had an exchange of words with the referee and the Indian coach.
 
What a joke of a football team.

The day these soo called footballers of Pakistan stop focussing on their looks and more on their game, will they start winning
 
Major said:
What a joke of a football team.

The day these soo called footballers of Pakistan stop focussing on their looks and more on their game, will they start winning
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The younger ones survive by playing lower divisions outside Pakistan and live a frugal life to save money for family. The rest focus on day jobs to make a living. Still they come together to represent the country whenever called upon, for a pittance and next to no recognition. The team was banned from International competitions due to politics and beauracracy, ie no fault of their own. Irrespective of what the score card reads, they put up a good show. What cost them was two penalties and two very basic errors.

It will be interesting to see how well the much coveted cricketing gods perform against India in their home conditions?!
 
shortbread said:
The younger ones survive by playing lower divisions outside Pakistan and live a frugal life to save money for family. The rest focus on day jobs to make a living. Still they come together to represent the country whenever called upon, for a pittance and next to no recognition. The team was banned from International competitions due to politics and beauracracy, ie no fault of their own. Irrespective of what the score card reads, they put up a good show. What cost them was two penalties and two very basic errors.

It will be interesting to see how well the much coveted cricketing gods perform against India in their home conditions?!
Click to expand...

what has cricket got to do here?

You cant make this into a football vs cricket thing.

There is no silver lining in this. They suck, pakistan football team sucks and is a joke.

These players are focussed on their looks. Look at them, everyone in the team thinks they are a star and try to PRETEND to be celebrities when they are not. If they focussed on their game, they would be somewhat good enough.

The fact that people on social media celebrating this as a good improvement against a side that ranks somewhere in the 100 is hilarious.
 
MenInG said:
Pakistan and Indian players engaged in a heated exchange during the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship match on Wednesday in Bengaluru.

The argument started in the 44th minute, just before the half-time whistle, when Indian coach Igor Stimac snatched the ball from Pakistan's Abdullah Iqbal as he was preparing for a throw-in.


Stimac was shown a red card for this offence and yellow cards were also shown to Sandesh Jhingan and Pakistan's Rahis Nabi for their role in the fracas.

Pakistan’s no. 5 Easah Suliman, who served the U-19 England football team as their captain, quickly jumped to the scene and had an exchange of words with the referee and the Indian coach.
Click to expand...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Football is all about passion, especially when you defend the colours of your country. &#55356;&#56814;&#55356;&#56819;&#55357;&#56473;&#55356;&#56813;&#55356;&#56823; <br><br>You can hate or love me for my actions yesterday, but I am a warrior and I will do it again when needed to protect our boys on the pitch against unjustified decisions. <a href="https://t.co/Jgps3hrmDP">pic.twitter.com/Jgps3hrmDP</a></p>— Igor Štimac (@stimac_igor) <a href="https://twitter.com/stimac_igor/status/1671763889850294275?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
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