SAFF Championship 2013: Team Profile – Sri Lanka

Sportskeeda continues the buildup to next month’s SAFF Championship by profiling each of the eight participating nations. Here we have a look at 1995 champions Sri Lanka.

FIFA Ranking: 170 AFC Ranking: 36

History

Sri Lanka’s first international match dates back to 1952 when they played under their erstwhile name of Ceylon. They have been a member of FIFA since 1972 but have never come close to qualifying for the World Cup or the Asian Cup.

Football has never been the number one sport in the country and has always been overshadowed by cricket and rugby. But Sri Lanka are one of three teams besides India to have won the SAFF Championship.

Besides the odd good showing at the South Asian Games and the runners-up finish at the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup, Sri Lanka don’t have much to show for at the international level since the 1995 SAFF Championship triumph.

Perhaps the 4-3 win over Lebanon in the 2009 Nehru Cup in New Delhi could stake a claim to be their most notable result in recent years because overall they haven’t improved at all and their status as the joint second-lowest ranked team of South Asia confirms it.

The country’s domestic league is contested by twenty teams, with ten divided into two groups, but many of them are institutional sides.

Ranjith Rodrigo was elected the new president of the football federation in March and he is determined to reestablish Sri Lanka’s status as one of the best in South Asia.

Best SAFF Championship Performance: Winners (1995)

SAFF Championship History

Sri Lanka haven’t reached the final for almost two decades now

Sri Lanka’s best performances at the SAFF Championship came in the first two editions. They finished runners-up in the 1993 edition which only had four teams and a round robin format.

Two years later, they won the competition as hosts and it remains their best moment in international football. In the final, they defeated holders and favourites India 1-0 with Sarath Wellage netting the winner in extra time.

Since then, Sri Lanka have reached the semi-finals three times, including the 2008 edition where they were the co-hosts along with Maldives.

1997 and 2009 are the two other occasions when they made it to the last four and hence haven’t made it to the final for almost two decades now. On a more disappointing note, Sri Lanka have failed to get past the group stage in four of the last six editions including the 2011 tournament in New Delhi where they were outclassed by both Afghanistan and India.

Current Team

Ever since the semi-final appearance at the 2009 SAFF Championship, the Sri Lankan national team has been on the decline. The start of the slump was seen at the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup, where they crashed out of the group stage despite being the hosts.

Sri Lanka then failed to qualify for the 2012 edition and most recently failed to qualify for the 2014 tournament with the defeat against lower ranked Laos being the biggest disappointment. That failure saw head coach Sampath Pereira lose his job with Brazilian Claudio Roberto taking charge.

New coach Claudio Roberto will have to make an instant impactPhoto Credit: GoalNepal.com

Roberto called up several new faces to the squad that has travelled to Thailand for the training camp. While in Thailand, Sri Lanka recorded wins over Customs United SC and Thailand U-21s but were thrashed 5-1 by a Hong Kong top tier club.

It’s worth noting that Sri Lanka only played one international match in 2012, which was a 6-0 thrashing against Malaysia in an away international friendly.

The new regime at the Sri Lanka football federation under Rodrigo are determined to give the current national team more international exposure but that could depend on their SAFF Championship performance next month.

24-man squad for the camp in Thailand

Goalkeepers: Dasun Paranavithane, Sujan perera, Sampath Bandara.Defenders: A. Bandara Warakagoda, Sanka Danushka, Suranda Bandara, Peter Charles, Amith Kumara, Mohamed Hakeem, Mohamed Sameer, Eranga Prasad, Lahiru Tharaka.Midfielders: Chathura Gunaratne, Raumy Mohideen, T.R.T. Rizni, H.D.M. De Silva, M. Sanoj Sameera, Mohamed Fazal, Nipuna Bandara.Forwards: M. N. M. Nafeer, M. Issadeen, MNM Imran, Chathuranga Sanjeewa, R. D. Sudarshana Gunasinghe.

Key Players

Suranda Bandara

The 28-year-old Solid SC central defender is one of many consistent domestic performers who have been called up by new coach Roberto and Bandara has also been named captain. Bandara will have to be lead the backline by example if Sri Lanka want to make it past the group stage.

Chathura Gunaratne

The 30-year-old Don Bosco SC central midfielder is one of the most experienced players in the current senior Sri Lanka setup. Gunaratne scored twice and played well at the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in March despite the team’s poor showing and will be aiming to repeat that at the SAFF Championship.

Mohammed Issadeen

Issadeen (right)

The 32-year-old SL Army striker is the current top scorer of the domestic league and thus has been deservedly rewarded with a return to the national team. Issadeen scored a hattrick in that famous victory over Lebanon and would be targeting a prolific campaign in Nepal next month.

SAFF 2013 Group: Afghanistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bhutan

SAFF 2013 FixturesSeptember 2: Maldives; September 4: Afghanistan; September 6: Bhutan.

SAFF 2013 Expectations

In terms of FIFA Rankings, quality and recent performances, Sri Lanka are the third best team in the group behind Afghanistan and Maldives. Sri Lanka would have to cause an upset against one of those two teams to reach the last four and should benefit from the fact that they won’t be favourites.

The players have a chance to play their hearts out for a new coach and a good showing at this SAFF Championship could mark the start of a new and successful era. Although the federation and coach are talking about winning the tournament, making the semi-finals should be a considered a good achievement.