India U 23 plays Afghanistan at Bangbandhu National Stadium today in the sixth SAFF Cup championship being played in Dhaka from 4th to 13th Dec 2009.The match kicks off at 6.45 PM local time.
India, the runners-up of the fifth edition in Colombo have been draw in Group A along with defending champions Maldives, Nepal and Afghanistan. Indian team had a two-hour training session on Friday under the watchful eyes of Coach Sukhvinder and support staff.
Speaking to www.the-aiff.com on the eve of India’s opening match against Afgahnistan, Coach Sukhvinder Singh said that international competitions are always difficult and nobody is an underdog. He added that our team preparation is good and all areas like goalkeeping, defending, midfielders and forwards are good. He concluded by saying that “We respect our opponent but we want to make a good beginning in the SAFF Championship.”
India is likely to Start with : Arindam Bhattachrya/GK, Denzil Franco/Def, D Ravanan/Def, Rowilson Rodrigues /Def, Robert Lalthlamuana/Def, Joaquim Abranches/Mid, Baldeep Singh/Mid, Jagpreet Singh/Mid, Jibon Singh/Mid, Balwant Singh/Fwd, Sushil Kumar Singh (Captain)/Fwd.
Source: AIFF
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Saturday 5 December 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.