2023 SAFF Championship

Discussion in 'AFC: Tournaments' started by Fureeku, May 10, 2023.

  1. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    The 2023 SAFF Championship will be hosted in Bangalore, India from 21st June to 4th July. For the first time since the 2013 edition, 8 teams will participate, and will be split into 2 groups of 4.

    Two invitees will be playing (Lebanon and Kuwait) and Sri Lanka have been omitted from the draw due to an active FIFA suspension. The pots have been sorted by FIFA Rankings and are as follows:

    Pot 1
    Lebanon
    India

    Pot 2
    Kuwait
    Maldives

    Pot 3
    Nepal
    Bhutan

    Pot 4
    Bangladesh
    Pakistan
     
  2. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
  3. hammad_friend

    hammad_friend Member

    Dec 26, 2005
    Dubai, Karachi
    Club:
    Al Hilal Riyadh
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia
    Final will be between Lebanon and Kuwait
     
    Radu Razvan repped this.
  4. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
  5. Kamtedrejt

    Kamtedrejt Member+

    Internazionale Milano
    Albania
    Mar 14, 2017
    Hamburg
    Club:
    FC Internazionale Milano
    Nat'l Team:
    Albania
    I predict India will win this tournament. They are pumped for it and want to prove a point and gather some confidence for the Asian Cup. Kuwait have experienced a massive decline in the last 10 years. They have become so bad that they can't any longer make it to a 24 team Asian Cup.

    Lebanon are a very uninspiring and one-dimensional side. I don't see why India can't win this tournament. I regard Lebanon and Kuwait both as sides who are right now outside of the Top 20 in the AFC. They are both pretty much on the samel level as India these days.
     
  6. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    Lebanon just drew against lowly Mongolia and India won 1-0 against Vanuatu with the help from a late strike by Sunil Chhetri. And this typifies the problem with these sides.

    Lebanon looked haphazard and devoid of ideas, with a squad consisting of too many players that should have retired from national team duties a few years ago.

    India's overdependence on 38-year old Chhetri for goals should be a cause for concern as the younger players just don't seem to have the required finishing qualities in international level.

    I still think that Kuwait are the strongest side in this competition. They are very physical and hence the sort of team that SAFF teams struggle to play against. They also comfortably beat Lebanon in their most recent encounter in a friendly.
     
  7. Kamtedrejt

    Kamtedrejt Member+

    Internazionale Milano
    Albania
    Mar 14, 2017
    Hamburg
    Club:
    FC Internazionale Milano
    Nat'l Team:
    Albania
    Kuwait failed to make it to the Asian Cup despite playing the qualifiers at home. Lost 1-0 to Indonesia and got battered 3-0 by Jordan. They beat Tajikistan 2-1 lately but that was due to the referee gifting them a goal. Overall they didn't show that much in that game. And beating Lebanon these days isn't hardly any impressive either. I don't rate even India but realistically all these three teams are pretty close to each over in terms of their current performance levels.
     
    Live_Football23 repped this.
  8. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    Kuwait 3-1 Nepal
    India 4-0 Pakistan

    Lebanon 2-0 Bangladesh
    Maldives 2-0 Bhutan
     
  9. Live_Football23

    Real Madrid
    Iraq
    Dec 7, 2020
    Before India beat Lebanon 2-0 recently, I would have guessed either Kuwait or Lebanon would win this tournament. It seems the level of Kuwait, India and Lebanon are roughly the same.

    Still, I think Kuwait will win. But India or even Lebanon winning wouldn’t be a surprise.
     
    Kamtedrejt repped this.
  10. Live_Football23

    Real Madrid
    Iraq
    Dec 7, 2020
    Kind of sad how far Kuwait have fallen since the golden era of the 80s. One of the best teams in Asia at the time.
     
  11. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    One of my earliest memories of watching football was when I saw Kuwait beating Japan 2-0 in the 1996 Asian Cup. I remember being awestruck by how quickly the Kuwaiti players were zipping the ball around. Japan simply couldn't keep up with them.
     
  12. Kamtedrejt

    Kamtedrejt Member+

    Internazionale Milano
    Albania
    Mar 14, 2017
    Hamburg
    Club:
    FC Internazionale Milano
    Nat'l Team:
    Albania
    Yeah if India don't end up winning I favour Kuwait. Lebanon have been in a free fall. Would surprise me if they would win it.
     
  13. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    Pakistan 0-4 Kuwait
    Nepal 0-2 India
    Kuwait and India book semi-final slots.

    Bangladesh 3-1 Maldives
    Bhutan 1-4 Lebanon
    Lebanon all but confirm semi slot. Bangladesh and Maldives are level on points, goal difference and goals scored, and will need to better each others result on Wednesday. Bhutan still with a very slim but unrealistic chance.
     
  14. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    Nepal 1-0 Pakistan
    India 1-1 Kuwait

    Lebanon 1-0 Maldives
    Bhutan 1-3 Bangladesh

    Semifinals
    Kuwait vs Bangladesh
    Lebanon vs India
     
  15. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    Kuwait 1-0 Bangladesh (a.e.t)
    Lebanon 0-0 India (2-4 pens)

    Final: 4th July
    India vs Kuwait
     
  16. Kamtedrejt

    Kamtedrejt Member+

    Internazionale Milano
    Albania
    Mar 14, 2017
    Hamburg
    Club:
    FC Internazionale Milano
    Nat'l Team:
    Albania
    India beat Kuwait 5-4 on PKs in the final.

    I got my prediction correct.
     
  17. Kamtedrejt

    Kamtedrejt Member+

    Internazionale Milano
    Albania
    Mar 14, 2017
    Hamburg
    Club:
    FC Internazionale Milano
    Nat'l Team:
    Albania
    Asian football is currently experiencing a shift in the balance of power. It's time to recognise that.

    We've got multiple declining Arab nations while South East Asia is one of the fastest growing regions in the game.
     
  18. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    A few interesting facts about this tournament:
    • Sunil Chhetri is now tied as the competition's record goalscorer with Ali Ashfaq.
    • Bangladesh's long wait to reach the semifinals ended this time; their first since 2009.
    • By contrast, Maldives failed to get past the group stages for the first time.
    I think both Kuwait and Lebanon were genuinely taken aback by the level of their opposition in this tournament. Aside from Kuwait's win against Pakistan, both sides were lucky not to concede more goals in all the games that they played.

    I'm aware that these are two sides on the wane, but the addition of Kuwait and Lebanon would have given some much needed experience and confidence for the SAFF sides ahead of the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
     
  19. Live_Football23

    Real Madrid
    Iraq
    Dec 7, 2020
    Somewhat disagree here. Kuwait have declined a lot since the 80s, that’s nothing new. Lebanon have never been a powerhouse. Keep in mind, India didn’t win against Kuwait twice or Lebanon in this tournament. And in the final, I thought they were outplayed by Kuwait.

    Oman and Bahrain have been in great form recently, and Qatar have improved. Saudi is back to its old self being in the top 5, and Iraq are improving and one of the strongest in the continent. Syria has also declined, but they’ve also never been a powerhouse.

    Southeast Asia has improved I’ll admit, but it’s still a long way from seeing a Southeast side in the World Cup in my opinion.
     
  20. Live_Football23

    Real Madrid
    Iraq
    Dec 7, 2020
    As for this tournament, the only South Asian side that was impressive was India.

    Bangladesh performed decently, they were comfortably beaten by Lebanon 2-0, but performed very well against Kuwait in the semifinal. Pakistan, bringing quite a few European based players, we’re terrible, and Maldives was eliminated in the group stage, something that hasn’t happened in a while.

    The real test for India will be the Kings cup, I’m interested to see how they fare against Iraq and Thailand, and playing away from home.
     
  21. Kamtedrejt

    Kamtedrejt Member+

    Internazionale Milano
    Albania
    Mar 14, 2017
    Hamburg
    Club:
    FC Internazionale Milano
    Nat'l Team:
    Albania
    Kuwait didn't outplay India in the final. You watched a different game then lol. It was an even game.

    I didn't say that all Arab nations are declining but Lebanon and Syria have been in a free fall.

    I count on Vietnam to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Their trajectory of the last years makes me hopeful that they'll reach by 2025 a level that enables them to pull it off.
     
  22. indianfan

    indianfan Member

    Al-Ahli
    India
    Jun 9, 2022
    I'd say 50-50 tbh, it was evenly contested there were glimpses of play where Kuwait was on the up and putting a lot of pressure on our defence.

    I still rate the Asian Arab Nations highly, Kuwait definitely needs to be higher up in the FIFA Rankings.
    I do agree that India's main challenge will be in the Kings' Cup, but I don't think so we'll fare so well with such top nations. If we get drawn against Iraq we can start preparing for the loser's final already.
     
  23. Fureeku

    Fureeku Member

    Feb 9, 2011
    Maldives
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Maldives
    You're right, India technically only beat Pakistan and Nepal. But they were noticeably fitter than Kuwait and Lebanon, which would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. They started dominating the semifinal and final as the minutes ticked by. I think Igor Stimac has done a remarkable job to shore up their defensive discipline, which should always be the first step in creating a competitive side.

    They still lack the composure required when teams press them. You could see Sunil Chhetri urging his teammates to calm down at times during the Lebanon and Kuwait matches when the opposition were really ramping up the pressure. But these kind of things are tied to a country's footballing culture and take time to be rectified.
     
    indianfan and Kamtedrejt repped this.

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