SAFF Federation Cup 2018, India vs Pakistan: 5 Talking Points

India made light work of their opponents Pakistan by defeating them 3-1 in the semi-final of the South Asian Football Federation Cup 2018 with Manvir Singh netting a brace and Sumeet Passi netting a late goal to help their side reach the final. The 31-year old Hassan Bashir played well throughout the game and netted a late consolation goal for his side as well.

After bamboozling every side in this edition of the tournament, the Blue Tigers would be looking to play in their eleventh final in the tournament's history and would be looking to lift the trophy the eighth time.

#1 Bad pitch in Bangabandhu Stadium

India and Pakistan was being looked up as a crunch match before it went down 3-1 and ended up as a one-sided match. But the pre-match warm-ups at the stadium showed that the pitch was not really in an ideal condition.

Manvir Singh who netted two goals in the second half missed a sitter in the first half as he slipped in the dirty area of the pitch while trying to take a shot at goal.

The football fans in Bangladesh and across South East Asia would be hoping to have a better pitch in the final of the tournament.

#2 Future looks bright for Indian football

Indian footballing standards have skyrocketed in the last three to four years with Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Lalrindika Ralte and Sandesh Jhingan at the forefront of this success. But there were fears around the camp that these players are not going to be there forever.

The management can take a sigh of relief now as the U-23 squad selected by the manager has rattled the full strength senior squads of teams in South Asia. Manvir Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Vinit Rai, Germanpreet Singh and Ashique Kuruniyan have taken the tournament by storm.

#3 Mixed Pakistan team lacked cohesion

Pakistan manager Jose Antonio Nogueira selected a squad that included players plying their trades in seven different leagues across the world. The unusual mix of players made up a team that looked out of sorts against a U-23 team.

The job of the manager is to ensure that the players can communicate with each other fluently which ensures slick passing and containing opponent players but the Pakistan team never looked like one unit on the pitch for the whole 90 minutes.

#4 Nikhil Poojary over Lallianzuala Chhangte?

India defeated Sri Lanka in the first match of the tournament and were almost guaranteed a spot in the semi-final. The manager thought it was the best opportunity to try Nikhil Poojary on the right wing and he overshadowed Lallianzuala Chhangte which led to the latter being dropped for the semi-final which raised a few eyebrows.

Poojary's direct running on the flanks and darting runs down the centre which led to the first of the two goals scored against the Maldives. The 23-year old will be playing an important part in the final after Chhangte saw a red in the semi-final.

#5 Ugly end to a one-sided contest

The game ended on a bad note with two players seeing a red card in the dying minutes of the game. Mohsin Ali of Pakistan who had a frustrating game lunged in very late on the young Indian winger Lallianzuala Chhangte who lashed onto the offender and received a red card himself.

Chhangte showed inexperience when he lashed out on Ali. Now, he misses the all-important final of the tournament which is neither good for the player, nor for the team. He could have easily let the matter go but the tired, naive mind got the better of him.

Edited by Amar Anand