SAFF Championship 2023: India look to win against Nepal and move closer to semis

After starting their campaign with a convincing 40 victory over Pakistan India will be looking to move closer to the semifinals of the SAFF Championship when they face Nepal here on SaturdayIn past matches played between India and Nepal the hosts have performed better evidenced by an overwhelming 162 overall headtohead record in 23 matches a sequence that started in the 1985 SAF GamesThe two teams last faced each other during the 2021 SAFF Championship when India defeated Nepal 30As far as the SAFF tournament is concerned India have a commanding 62 headtohead record from nine matches Even the recent forms of both the teams indicate an Indian dominationIndia entered the SAFF Championship on the back of their 20 triumph over Lebanon in the Intercontinental Cup final in OdishaThe Blue Tigers carried that confidence into their opening match here at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium turning on the afterburners to hammer Pakistan 40 and the victory was laced by captain Sunil Chhetris hattrickAlso Read Analysis How each player performed against Pakistan in SAFF Championship 2023 openerIndia will be without the services of head coach Igor Stimac after he was shown red card during Indias 40 win over Pakistan in the illtempered opening match Assistant coach Mahesh Gawli will take charge of the team at the dug outNepal had a difficult start to their campaign as they went down 13 to Kuwait in their opening match A positive result against India however tough that might be is mandatory for them to stay alive in the SAFF tournamentHowever India will have to guard against complacency as Nepal have the wherewithal to spring a surprise Nepals 31yearold midfielder Rohit Chand who plays in Indonesian League and forward Anjan Bista could be surprise packagesAdditionally Nepal coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese is quite familiar with Indian football as he has served as manager of ILeague winning side Gokulam Kerala FCThe Indian camp is very much aware of Nepals potency and assistant coach Mahesh Gawli warned his side against letting their guard down against the GorkhalisldquoThey Nepal are a good side and they played a very good game against Kuwait as you all saw It will be a very tough match for usrdquo Gawli had said after the match against PakistanBut India have made some strides under head coach Igor Stimac Defence has been Indias Achilles Heel in the past but they have now managed to keep a clean sheet in the last seven matches a record for Stimacs side Experienced Sandesh Jhingan too seemed to have come into his elementsGawli wanted the team to build on it and expressed satisfaction over the visible improvement He attributed it to the cohesiveness of the unitldquoI think it is because of how we practise in training We like to keep things simple and they are doing it And theyve been playing together for so long and it has helped them to improverdquo he saidNow its time for India to add another brick in that processSaturdays matchesPakistan vs Kuwait 330 PM ISTIndia vs Nepal 730 PM ISTWith PTI inputs