SAFF U-16 Championship: India vs Maldives Live Updates

2:15 PM: Hello everyone and welcome to Khel Now’s LIVE COVERAGE of the India vs Maldives Semi-final match in the SAFF U-16 Championship 2023. The kick-off is just 15 minutes away! I am your host Aishwarya Chakraborty and will keep you company through what promises a fascinating afternoon of football. Please wait for 30 Seconds for the Live blog to load.

SAFF U-16 Championship: India vs Maldives - Build-up

India U-16 Men’s National Team head coach Ishfaq Ahmed seems a lot more content with his team’s performance and believes that this team has finally begun to grasp his footballing philosophy, as they prepare for their SAFF U-16 Championship semi-final clash against the Maldives.

India secured the top spot in Group A and a berth in the semi-finals of the competition with two 1-0 wins over Bangladesh and Nepal. However, while the game against Bangladesh was a more hard-fought affair, the Blue Colts looked much more in control of the proceedings in the match against Nepal, where despite a slender win by a 1-0 margin, India were denied by the woodwork four times.

“The boys have shown a lot of improvement, and I am happy to see that they have played the way we wanted to play our game,” said Ahmed. “We do need to improve our finishing, but I am very happy with the number of chances we created.

“It was important for us to score first, and we managed to keep the ball well throughout the game after that,” he said.

The Maldives, who silenced the home crowd to come back from behind and defeat a 10-man Bhutan 3-2 in their last Group B match, have also shown a lot of improvement, feels Ahmed.

“Maldives were brilliant in their second match, which really surprised me. They showed a lot of improvement from their first game, and have some quality players in their ranks,” said Ahmed. “We have to be careful against these players, as they are individuals with a lot of skills.”

While Ahmed focused on creating chances and finishing them, he also took the time to appreciate how his side have understood the art of defending as a unit in the last two games.