New dimension enlivens SAFF Championship

The 14th edition of SAFF Championship will feature a new dimension of competitiveness as two Middle Eastern nations enter the fray with the curtains set to be raised at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore today.

Defending champions India will start their campaign by taking on cross-border rivals Pakistan in the second game of the opening day after Kuwait play last edition's runners-up Nepal at the same venue.

Since the introduction of the South Asian football extravaganza 30 years ago, the competition was confined to seven sub-continental nations until Afghanistan joined in 2005. After failing to add much spice to proceedings in their first three appearances, Afghanistan started challenging India by reaching the all three finals from 2011-2015 and even lifting the trophy once.

But after the Afghans quit SAFF in 2018 and joined the Central Asian Football Association, India became virtually the only contenders, clinching eight titles in 13 editions.

With India climbing up in the FIFA ranking relentlessly and other South Asian nations struggling to match the standards set by their predecessors, India's proposal to invite the stronger teams from beyond the South Asian region to increase the tournament's competitiveness has led to the inclusion of 99th-ranked Lebanon and 143rd-ranked Kuwait.

The two are expected to challenge India's stranglehold while two-time champions Maldives, one-time champions Bangladesh and Nepal will also hope to make their presence felt.

Prolific Indian striker Sunil Chhetri felt it would provide a different challenge. "For the first time, we have Lebanon and Kuwait participating in the SAFF Championship. With due respect to other teams in the SAFF region, their [Lebanon and Kuwait] level is better and that is a good thing. It will be different than the other SAFF Championships. The champions are going to have a different challenge," Chhetri said in an interview with SAFF.

The championship will also mark the return of five-time semifinalists Pakistan, who missed the last edition of the championship due to a suspension from FIFA. They are expected to pose a threat to India and Kuwait in Group A, especially after coming into the tournament on the back of a four-nation tournament in Mauritius.

India and Lebanon are also coming into the tournament in full flow following their participation in a four-nation Intercontinental Cup in Bhubaneswar, where India beat Lebanon 2-0.

Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan have also had good preparations at home and abroad, but the race is expected to be confined to India, Lebanon and Kuwait.

Although Bangladesh were once contenders, they have failed to progress past the group stages in the last five editions. This time around, the men in red and green are targeting the semifinals, hoping to make it out of a group also featuring Lebanon, Maldives and Bhutan.

"I think the competition in this group is going to be very tough because all of us want to progress," Bangladesh coach Javier Cabrera said. "For us, it is quite important because it have been five editions without qualifying for the semifinals. We will do our best by following our idea. We expect strong competition and three tough games."