Can Bangladesh overcome India hurdle?

Neighbors Bangladesh and India will face off in a blockbuster Saff Championship clash Monday at Maldives National Stadium, starting at 5pm Bangladesh time.

The men in red and green began their Saff 2021 mission on a winning note, edging Sri Lanka 1-0 Friday at the same venue, while for India, this will be their opening match in this edition.

India might already be playing catch up with Bangladesh, who already have three points to their tally, but the former will start as overwhelming favorites in Monday's match.

The Indians have won the Saff Championship a record seven times in 12 editions, while the Bengal Tigers have been victorious once, in 2003.

India also have a better head-to-head record between the two countries, and lie 82 places above Bangladesh in the Fifa ranking. 

Despite the odds stacked against them, Bangladesh have what it takes to get the better of India, believes Bangladesh interim head coach Oscar Bruzon.

“Bangladesh are best when it is about concentration and self confidence,” said Bruzon at the pre-match press conference Sunday.

“We want to win against India and for that we need to score goals. Bangladesh lack the capacity of scoring goals. We want to solve the problem and score goals in every match. Hopefully we will do that.

“India are the favorites. They have a very good league. But I think we will have a good fight (Monday) and will play to win,” added the Spanish coach. 

Bruzon also said they have plans in place to thwart Indian forward Sunil Chhetri, who with 75 goals in 120 matches is one of the most prolific goal-scorers in the international stage. 

“I know Chhetri very well. I was his coach. He is a very dangerous player in the box. But we know how to stop him. We are planning accordingly,” said Bruzon.