Injury plagues India before SAFF Cup final

Though India edged out Maldives in their last league match by a solitary goal, past record would count for a little when the sides lock horn and with Steven

Dias, Rennedy Singh and N S Manju set to miss the final with injuries, coach Bob Houghton would find himself in an unenviable position.

To make it worse, the forward line, including Bhutia himself, sports a jaded look and the captain said it would be a 50-50 affair on Saturday.

“We all are very confident against Maldives. They are a very good side. It will be a good contest. It’s difficult to say who will be the winners but we

have 50-50 chances,” Bhutia said.

The captain did not try to gloss over the fact that he and his forward-line colleagues cut a sorry figure against Bhutan and it needed a last-gasp goal

from Gourmangi Singh, at the fag end of the extra time to edge out Bhutan and clear India’s passage to the final.

“It was one of those performances when nothing went right for us. But you should not read too much into the semi-final,” Bhaichung said, reluctant to cry

over spilled milk.

So far, Houghton was unhappy with only the hectic schedule but now it’s the poor finishing of the forward-line in the semifinal match against Bhutan, which

worries the journeyman coach.

“It was another poor day for our strikers. After creating so many chances we couldn’t score,” he rued.

The team, however, is taking heart from the fact that beating Maldives is something they have done in their least league matches, and that too without six

of their key players, including Bhutia.