India’s Hitherto Lackadaisical Mid-fielders Will Have To Add More Spark In Their SAFF

India’s hitherto lackadaisical mid-fielders will have to add more spark in their SAFF Championship semifinal against Maldives at the Nehru Stadium in Delhi on Friday afternoon. India coach Savio Medeira has received several brickbats from the media with the side accused of being slow off the blocks and playing with an ineffective midfield.

 

Skipper Climax Lawrence and Rocus Lamare have failed to strike a combination in the heart of the Indian mid-field and with veteran Steven Dias mostly warming the bench so far, Medeira has been left with little option. So far, India have mainly ridden some hard work from the wings and particularly Clifford Miranda and an untiring attacking defender, Syed Rahim Nabi.

India have a good record against Maldives. In eight SAFF outings so far, India have won five times. But Medeira is not underestimating Maldives.

"Maldives are a good side and they have been tough to beat in the past. We defeated them convincingly in the friendlies couple of months back, but this team is much better than what we faced in the friendlies," said the Indian coach.

As defending champions, expectations are high from India, but Medeira is taking one match at a time.

"I will not be able to say whether my team will retain the trophy, but I can say we are going to give our best shot. All teams in the semifinals are really good and the one that makes fewer mistakes are going to succeed," said the 46-year-old Goan.

Maldives coach Istvan Bela Urbanyi feels the clash is going to be an interesting one.

"The previous India-Maldives matches have been entertaining with India coming on top most of the times. But one has to see that India have a population of over a billion and Maldives of under a million. Here there are a lot of footballers and we have a few 100-odd registered professionals," said Urbanyi.

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