SAFF U16 Championship: India vs Pakistan

The two hard-core rivals India and Pakistan face-off each other once again in the field of sports. This time, its the U16 colts who have the responsibility to save their nation’s pride in SAFF U16 Championship final today.

Pakistan is in its best of moods as they are coming to the final with an ‘invincible’ tag. Moreover, these proud young lads have kept their sheet clean in all the 3 matches they played in the build-up to this final. They defeated arch-rivals India 1-0  in the opening game, thumped Maldive 6-0 and snatched a late win against Bangladesh 2-0.

On the other hand, India comes to the final with just one narrow defeat against Pakistan. They have thrashed Maldive 5-0 on their way. Notably, India played with 10 boys for the last 30 minutes or so. Lalramzova, the talented midfielder who got a red card in this match is back from suspension in the final giving some relief to the coach Thomas Joseph. The condition of the pitch is another worrying factor for the Indian side as half of the team members had been trained in the excellent facilities of IMG in USA. The pitch at the Dasarath Rangshala Stadium has been severely affected by rain.

Indian team has the woes of poor conversion rate in this series. The strikers have failed to convert clear chance from handshaking distances. They must be looking to improve on it. One of the key tactics of India will be to stretch the match on to the penalties as the IMG trained goalie Supratim Bhattacharya is in his best of forms.

Going into the Final, experts put Pakistan a little ahead of India based on their recent performances. But, it is India vs Pakistan after all. And if India can improve on their conversion rates, there is no reason why India cannot win the championship!

OUR PREDICTION: India win on Penalties

KICK-OFF: 3:15 pm IST

For live discussions on the match CLICK HERE

You do not agree with us or have message for the young guns? Let’s hear them in the comments!