Friday , March 29 2024

SAFF Women’s Cup: India take on Nepal in semifinal!

The 2016 SAFF Women’s Championship has reached the semifinal stage with hosts and defending champions India facing Nepal, while Bangladesh would take on the Maldives with both matches set to be played at the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri on Monday, January 2.

India made a perfect start into the tournament with a 5-1 win over Afghanistan but were held to a goalless draw by Bangladesh, who themselves had defeated Afghanistan by a 6-0 scoreline. This meant that India would finish second in Group B and would have to take on Group A table toppers Nepal.

So far in the history of the SAFF Women’s Cup, India has always faced Nepal in the final which India has won on all three occasions but this time around Nepal seem a different opponent altogether.

The Nepal Women’s team have been very impressive in the tournament so far having opened with an 8-0 win over Bhutan following it up with a 9-0 trashing of the Maldives but were made to sweat by Sri Lanka before they won through an own goal.

Sabitra Bhandari has been on fire for Nepal having scored 11 goals in three matches so far in the tournament.

So it is going to be a real test for the India Women’s national team as Sajid Dar’s side will have to be careful at the back and take their chances upfront which was the only concern against Bangladesh as India threw away a sure win with no goals scored.

About Arunava Chaudhuri

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