SAFF Cup 2021: India vs Bangladesh - Live Blog, Live Updates, Scores, Team News, and more
The Blue Tigers take on Bangladesh in their first match of the SAFF Cup.
Indian Coach Igor Stimac with Anirudh Thapa (Image Source: AIFF Media)
The SAFF Cup has already started on the 1st of October, 2021 and India will be facing their neighbors Bangladesh in their first match on the 4th at the Maldives National Stadium. The two teams last met in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers where India won by 2-0, with their skipper Sunil Chettri netting the ball home twice.
In the SAFF Championship, the two teams have met 9 times before this encounter, with India winning 5 times and the scores remaining the same in the other 4 matches.
Head Coach Igor Stimac maintained at the official pre-match press conference that "the first game is always the most difficult game".
"Bangladesh are a known opponent, but we respect them immensely. In fact, we respect each and every team playing out here, and they have an equal chance to win the tournament," the coach said.
Team captain Sunil Chhetri stressed that the "message from our coaching staff and Head Coach is very clear."
"It is more and much more about how we play. We got to make sure that we minimize our mistakes, and we have to make sure that in every game no matter what, we give 100 percent. We cannot be complacent," Sunil warned.
The match begins at 4:30 pm Indian Standard Time, and our coverage begins at 4pm, do follow this space for more updates.
The match ends with 10-men Bangladesh snatching away valuable three points from India! Sunil Chettri scored his 76th goal today and 18-year-old Yeasin Arafat scored his first ever goal for Bangladesh!
India play Sri Lanka on 7th October, 2021.
Scores still at level with just 4 minutes left of the regulation time!