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

Maldives Beat Bhutan 2-0 full time score

Crazy thing is Bhutan had 24 shots and Maldives had 9
from which Bhutan had 10 on targets and Maldives had 6
In terms of possession 54-56 in favor of Bhutan

Bhutan seemed like the better team, but could not make it count. Great win for Maldvies, and great effort by Bhutan
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Otis Khan ,"I didn’t arrive…half the team didn’t arrive at the hotel till four pm. The biggest game for Pakistan in the last 10 years, and you got just three hours to prepare with no sleep and no food. But we don’t want to make any excuses. The best team won today.” <a href="https://t.co/SB3O5wMO2j">pic.twitter.com/SB3O5wMO2j</a></p>— Save Football Pakistan (@PakFootbalVoice) <a href="https://twitter.com/PakFootbalVoice/status/1672185112539062272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I don't know why most Indians are going overboard with this win. I never expected Pakistan to win given its lack of experience(10 matches in the last 8 years) and having a completely new team that started playing together less than a month ago. Add to all that the fact that Pakistan's team arrived in India just a few hours before the match and you have the perfect storm.

Trolling the team after all this is just a bit weird in my opinion.
 
Indians celebrating like they just won the Asia Cup of Football lol. This is like a Cricket match between Uganda and Malawi.
 
Mesozoic said:
Pretty sure 99.99% of the Indian population weren't aware this match even happened but okay.
Click to expand...

over 22 000 fans attended the match, and their was big talk about the match on social media, prior to the match starting, alot of people from India, were aware of this match. For sure once the match finished more people found on through social media. To say 99 percent of Indians werent aware of the match is down right silly. I would assume maybe 25 or 30 percent were not aware of the match

Regardless it was an expected result, as mentioned in the start of the thread India is expected to win the whole thing.
 
nextover666666 said:
over 22 000 fans attended the match, and their was big talk about the match on social media, prior to the match starting, alot of people from India, were aware of this match. For sure once the match finished more people found on through social media. To say 99 percent of Indians werent aware of the match is down right silly. I would assume maybe 25 or 30 percent were not aware of the match

Regardless it was an expected result, as mentioned in the start of the thread India is expected to win the whole thing.
Click to expand...

1% of Indians are more than 10 million and I think that is also not possible, he is right with that, I had to tell my cousins in India about it.
 
India's traditional rivals in SAFF are Maldives, and then there are Nepal and Afghanistan to an extent.

Pakistan football was in a limbo for a long while and they could have had a better result, some of those goals were silly but they did ok overall. It's unnecessarily to gloat a win against them.

Key will be how long India relies on Chettri still, don't see anyone even partially capable once he decides to hang up his boots. The midfield, defence and the football overall is pretty decent though.
 
Football Official Says The India-Pakistan Game Could Be a Turning Point for Sports

Cricket contests between India and Pakistan are difficult to organize but football may have shown the region’s most popular sport how to build bridges.

The national football teams met Wednesday for the first time since 2014, with Sunil Chhetri scoring a hat-trick as No. 101-ranked India beat No. 195-ranked Pakistan 4-0 at Bangalore in the opening game of the South Asian championship.

There may have been an on-field brawl after India coach Igor Stimac was red carded for preventing Pakistan from taking a throw-in late in the first half, but just having the game at all was a cause for satisfaction at a time of so much uncertainty in cricket ahead of the World Cup.

“It could be a turning point,” Haroon Malik, leader of the committee running the Pakistan Football Federation, told The Associated Press in the wake of the game. “Football unites the world and we need to enjoy playing each other and we need to have fun.

“The emotion of playing India is always special.”

That’s certainly the case in cricket, where both teams are among the world’s elite. The last India-Pakistan cricket encounter was at the World Twenty20 tournament in Australia last October, when more than 90,200 fans packed the Melbourne Cricket Ground to witness India scrape to a narrow, last-ball victory.

It’s not lost on anyone that most recent meetings have been on neutral turf.

India and Pakistan have met in only 60 test matches dating back to 1952, a remarkably low figure considering the proximity of the countries.

The last bilateral test series was in late 2007, when India hosted three tests, and the last time India traveled to India for a test series was in early 2006.

In the limited-overs format, the last eight one-day international meetings have been on neutral turf — including World Cup group games at Adelaide, Australia in 2015 and at Manchester, England in 2019.

...
https://www.news18.com/football/foo...ld-be-a-turning-point-for-sports-8157847.html
 
You would think with some of the foreign players we have who play in europe they would get a little better game by game....just seems like their getting worse
 
Pakistan needs 11 out of 11 overseas players. Get rid of all the local players except Shayek Dost, Alamgir Ghazi and Abdullah Shah. The others can't play for ****.
 
At the Half Kuwait Leads 3-0

Same issues we are seeing with Pak

when they have the ball
- seem to panick and lose control
-when they do gain control and make a good looking build up, cant seem to finish
- a lack of shots
- they press too hard and leave lots of room and space for other team to counter easily.
- 2 of the goals were due to counter attacks
- players tend to over dribble
-bad passes meaning they lose possession due to a bad pass.

Pakistans main issue is the defense.
 
Final score
Kuwait 4 Pakistan 0

Are we gonna lose every game 4-0
I hope we cant get a win or draw vs nepal and atleast a goal
 
The only problem we have is with the local players.

-They can't pass
-They have virtually zero stamina
-They are only good at fighting each other
-They just lack quality and skill to play at this level
 
abdullah123456 said:
The only problem we have is with the local players.

-They can't pass
-They have virtually zero stamina
-They are only good at fighting each other
-They just lack quality and skill to play at this level
Click to expand...

Even the foreign players are struggling yeah they're better than our locals but they're still struggling as well
 
nextover666666 said:
over 22 000 fans attended the match, and their was big talk about the match on social media, prior to the match starting, alot of people from India, were aware of this match. For sure once the match finished more people found on through social media. To say 99 percent of Indians werent aware of the match is down right silly. I would assume maybe 25 or 30 percent were not aware of the match

Regardless it was an expected result, as mentioned in the start of the thread India is expected to win the whole thing.
Click to expand...

Problem is Football is not really popular in large stretches of India except 3-4 states and 4-6 urban centres where the latter are more into European football and have very limited knowledge and awareness of domestic football. So it's likely that less than 10% of India was even aware that there has been a India Pakistan football match.
 
Easah lives close to England cricketer Moeen Ali’s residence in Birmingham and he is a fan of Indian cricket legend Virat Kohli. He loves T20 cricket and ardently follows the Indian Premier League (IPL).

But the first love, for Easah Suliman, has always been football.

From playing as a child in his backyard to donning the captain’s armband for the Pakistan national football team, Suliman’s journey is about returning to his roots, leading by example, and sometimes, shouldering responsibilities that are possibly larger than he can fathom.

Pakistan has looked enervated in the two matches it has played in the SAFF Championship till now.

Without a single point in two matches, its exit from the tournament was quiet compared to the hullabaloo created ahead of it’s arrival in India. This setback is momentary, and for Suliman, this team has a lot of chapters to write in the coming days.

“It is the first time all of us have been together. Even if you bring 11 very good players together, you still need time to be organised as a team,” Suliman told Sportstar.

“With India, you can tell the team has been playing with each other for a while. They have a structure, organisation and a way of playing. I felt that on the pitch.”

“Privileged for my upbringing”

Suliman started his career in football at the youth academy of the Premier League side Aston Villa, staying at the club from eight till 21.

Playing for clubs Cheltenham Town, Grimsby Town and FC Emmen, the centre-back created history when he joined Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes, making him the first player of Pakistani descent to play in the top flight in Portugal.

But it wasn’t the first time Suliman had written his name in the history books.

Actively involved in the youth levels of the England national team, between under-16 and under-20 sides, he became the first British Asian to captain an England side at any level.

He led the young Three Lions and started every match in its victorious campaign at the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, scoring in the final against Portugal.

During his time with England, he has shared the pitch with players like Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), Mason Mount (Chelsea) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool).

“England is on a different level when it comes to all other countries. It goes back to grassroots; it goes back to youth football; it goes back to education when you were young. I feel privileged that I had that upbringing in England,” he said.

“Over there, you have the best coaches and the best opportunities. It is a big reason why I am playing professionally, and I am where I am.”

Asked about a realistic timeframe regarding when India and Pakistan can reach a level at par with England and other top-ranked nations, he is quick to point out that it will take a long time. While it is something that cannot be solved with quick fixes, Suliman said that a systematic structure is imperative.

“I’m not too sure at the moment how it works in Pakistan…A competitive league is important; I don’t know whether Pakistan has a competitive league yet,” he said, “That could be a start where players are playing regularly. One of the positive things about India, which is very good, is that they have the Indian Super League.”

When Pakistan came calling

Suliman never had playing for Pakistan on the cards. So, when he was presented with the opportunity, there was some deliberation on his part. The functioning of the Pakistan football team lacked clarity, and so, he needed some time to figure out what his next step would be.

“I tried to understand their [Pakistan Football Federation] intentions and checked whether they are doing things properly now. I needed to be sure because if I was to come here, things would need to be done properly. But once I had made my decision, I was happy to come and give my whole,” he said.

“My grandparents were born in Mirpur (now known as New Mirpur City) in the Azad Kashmir district). So, of course, I am proud of my heritage and my origin.”

Shouldering responsibility

Suliman is still getting used to captaining the Pakistan football team at the age of 25.

Making his debut in a 1-0 loss against Kenya in the Four-Nations tournament, he has just played four matches for his country. But in his nascent career with the Pak Shaheens, he has to deal with the spotlight being on him due to his footballing experience.

“In terms of feeling pressure about leading the team, you can feel that, of course. You have the local players looking at you, what you can do at every given minute – what food you’re eating, how you’re recovering after games, what you’re doing before the game. In that way, I need to be a bit more conscious and set a good example in that way,” he said.

“I have had players already asking me for things like training plans and training programs. I have sent that to them. I have told them that they should be doing this not just when they play for Pakistan but daily.”

India vs Pakistan - the experience; shaking hands with Stimac and facing Sunil Chhetri

Suliman and his team did not have the smoothest of transitions from Mauritius to Bengaluru.

From issues with their visas to several players missing their flight and landing just hours before kick-off, it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

“It was such a big game, with such a big crowd, and given the occasion, we would have liked to be a more prepared,” Suliman said about the match.

The Pakistan team was showered with incessant booing at the Sree Kanteerava, something Suliman had already expected, but what he didn’t expect was the touchline scuffle that Pakistan players had with India head coach Igor Stimac, which led to the latter being sent off.

“From my point of view, we tried to take a quick throw-in, but he [Stimac] stopped us from taking that. Obviously, at that moment, you are very frustrated. But I saw him at half-time, and I shook his hand. The respect that he has - he is involved in his team and is passionate.”

While Suliman still thinks it is unacceptable for a manager to get involved in a game like that, now that the moment’s passed, he said Stimac did what he needed to do for his team.

Suliman’s battle with Sunil Chhetri was always going to be talked about, with the former playing as a centre-back.

“It was disappointing for me because it built up as a 1v1 battle- a case of you vs him. It is not just about me.”

The Pakistan captain said that the unfortunate part was the errors committed by his team that “gifted” Chhetri his goals.

It was Suliman’s handball which gave India the penalty – one that was converted by Chhetri, completing his hat-trick.

“The ball did hit my hand, but it was very close. I did not have time to react. I could see why that was given as a penalty, but I think it could be given either way,” Suliman said.

Pakistan’s SAFF Championship campaign ends with a dead-rubber match against another eliminated side, Nepal.

Though it wasn’t a fruitful visit to India, the captain is optimistic about achieving something with the national team of Pakistan – a country that holds a special place in his heart. Suliman, in his own words, wants to get the “Pakistan football team rolling again.”

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/foot...akistan-pak-football-news/article67009069.ece
 
Pakistan can't beat even Nepal with players like Harun Hamid, Otis Khan, Easah Suliman. Something is seriously wrong. Questions need to be asked.
 
Full time
Nepal 1
Pakistan 0

I did not watch the game so I can't really judge what happened or how team played

By far the worse saff cup for pak lost all 3 games and did not score a single goal

I hope PFF can look into this and try to implement changes also Pak coach shahzad anwar needs to go.
 
Full time
India 1
Kuwait 1

Own goal by Indias Anwar Ali, helped Kuwait draw the match.

Kuwait and India advance to semi finals

Kuwait finish 1st in the group, and India as 2nd in the group
 
nextover666666 said:
Full time
India 1
Kuwait 1

Own goal by Indias Anwar Ali, helped Kuwait draw the match.

Kuwait and India advance to semi finals

Kuwait finish 1st in the group, and India as 2nd in the group
Click to expand...

Lebanon and Kuwait are additional this time, wonder if we have had teams like that before.
 
nextover666666 said:
Full time
India 1
Kuwait 1

Own goal by Indias Anwar Ali, helped Kuwait draw the match.

Kuwait and India advance to semi finals

Kuwait finish 1st in the group, and India as 2nd in the group
Click to expand...
Missed parts of the second half and Kuwait's equalizer but that was an encouraging display from India until then against a pretty decent team. Looked very comfortable in possession but still dependant on Chhetri as a goalscorer

I think we are now comfortably in the third tier of Asia alongside the SEA teams. Lebanon in the semis will be a test against probably the strongest team in the competition
 
JaDed said:
Lebanon and Kuwait are additional this time, wonder if we have had teams like that before.
Click to expand...

They are included in this edition since Sri Lanka is suspended, and Afgahistan is no longer with SAFF, they play in CAFA (central asian football association)

Without Kuwait, and Lebanon, would have been only 6 team tourney

Would be funny/odd if the final for SAFF cup ends up being an-all arab or middle eastern finals.
 
OldWarHorse said:
Missed parts of the second half and Kuwait's equalizer but that was an encouraging display from India until then against a pretty decent team. Looked very comfortable in possession but still dependant on Chhetri as a goalscorer

I think we are now comfortably in the third tier of Asia alongside the SEA teams. Lebanon in the semis will be a test against probably the strongest team in the competition
Click to expand...


India football has taken massive steps, and credit is due for sure, they are also trying to improve their youth teams and womens game as well. Their heading in the right direction for sure.
 
nextover666666 said:
They are included in this edition since Sri Lanka is suspended, and Afgahistan is no longer with SAFF, they play in CAFA (central asian football association)

Without Kuwait, and Lebanon, would have been only 6 team tourney

Would be funny/odd if the final for SAFF cup ends up being an-all arab or middle eastern finals.
Click to expand...

They are the stronger teams even though we defeated Lebanon last month.
 
nextover666666 said:
India football has taken massive steps, and credit is due for sure, they are also trying to improve their youth teams and womens game as well. Their heading in the right direction for sure.
Click to expand...

We will still be a minnow because if only money was enough China would be there too. They are #81

But atleast thanks to Football league we are getting better now but it’s so damn hard to become even tier 2 among Asian teams.
 
Full time
Lebanon 1
Maldvies 0

Lebanon finish first in their group

Bangladeah can claim second spot with a win or draw vs Bhutan
 
So in South Asian championships half the teams in the semi-finals are from the Middle East. Like I said South Asians are not genetically built for success in football.

Pakistan with multiple players trained in the English footballing system end up with 0 points, scoring 0 goals and conceding 9. Embarrassing.
 
Dios said:
So in South Asian championships half the teams in the semi-finals are from the Middle East. Like I said South Asians are not genetically built for success in football.

Pakistan with multiple players trained in the English footballing system end up with 0 points, scoring 0 goals and conceding 9. Embarrassing.
Click to expand...

I can't understand how Pakistan performed so badly. The players are not even that bad. Players like Otis Khan, Easah Suliman, Harun Hamid and Abdullah Iqbal are good players. Serious questions need to be asked.
 
abdullah123456 said:
I can't understand how Pakistan performed so badly. The players are not even that bad. Players like Otis Khan, Easah Suliman, Harun Hamid and Abdullah Iqbal are good players. Serious questions need to be asked.
Click to expand...

-coaching from Shahzad anwar was not good

-despite having some good foreign players, its clear the team has not developed chemistry yet.

-the foreign players stuggled but the local players looks worse

-goalkeepers havent been upto to the mark giving up some bad goals.

I can make a whole list but really what it is, that the team doesnt have the right chemistry yet, the coach if he wasnt so clueless would have figured that out and try to get something going.

At the same time this is a new set of players even if their goood foreign players they will need to play a lot of games with each other.

They should stick with the core players and add in some other good players into the mix, ideally would be good idea to get a forgien coach to try to help the team progress.
 
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