June 14, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 09, 1429

LAHORE, June 13: India, the 1993, 97, 99 and 2005 champions of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, will face Maldives in the title clash of the seventh SAFF Championship at the Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka on Saturday.

The final kicks off at 8.30pm PST. India have an excellent record against Maldives, beating them in the 1997 final and in the semi-final in 2005. India also edged out Maldives 1-0 in the ongoing show’s league match on June 7.

India are struggling to cope with injuries to their key players ahead of the final. Indian coach Bob Houghton substituted Steven Dias in the second half of the semi-final and fears that the midfielder along with three more players could miss the final match.

“Steven, Renedy, Climax and Manju could miss the final due to injuries,” said Houghton.

N.S. Manju limped off the pitch with a hamstring injury during India’s opening match against Nepal and is yet to recover. With wingers Renedy Singh and Steven Dias missing along with attacking mid-fielder Climax Lawrence, the Indian line-up wears a distinctly depleted look and could struggle to overcome a strong Maldivian side.

To compound Houghton’s problems, the strikers are not in great touch either with Bhaichung Bhutia and company wasting several chances to score against Bhutan on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Maldives coach Joseph Jankech is confident of a good show in the final.

“We played very good football against India [in the group stage] and we lost because we were unlucky that day,” he said. “As a coach I want to win all the matches under my guidance and we are going into the finals to win the cup.”

The event assumes significance if one leaves the global picture aside. Both India and Maldives want to lay their hands on it for contrasting reasons. Houghton sees a win on Saturday as a boost to India’s campaign in next month’s AFC Challenge Cup.

Maldives, on the other hand, are desperate to end 17 years of agony. The Maldivians have not finished on top of any South Asian competition since they made their debut in 1991. —PPI