SAFF Championship semifinal: Kuwait strong favourite against resurgent Bangladesh

Bengaluru

Kuwait will face Bangladesh in the first semifinal of the 2023 SAFF Championship at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Saturday.

Kuwait, one of the two West Asian nations selected to the competition, is making its debut at the SAFF Championship alongside Lebanon.

The Al-Azraqs finished as the Group A toppers without losing a single match in the group-stage. They clinched consecutive wins against Nepal and Pakistan before playing out a 1-1 draw against India – a match riddled with controversy, which saw Blue Tigers head coach Igor Stimac receive his second red card of the tournament.

Bangladesh is the third-most decorated SAFF Nation, after India and the Maldives, winning the title once and reaching the semifinals 12 times.

Despite failing to perform on the international stage for a long time, the Bengal Tigers have reason to celebrate as they have reached the semifinals for the first time in 14 years.

They finished as the runners-up of Group B, losing its opening match against Lebanon, but making a stylish comeback by winning its next two matches against the Maldives and Bhutan.

Kuwait will start the clash as the clear favourite, but head coach Rui Bento said that factors like rankings and team form go out of the window when it comes to crunch matches like the semifinals or the final.

“Our team is in a process. First, our results were not that good, but we have been building slowly. I like to think of my team as one which is growing and not a finished product,” Bento said in the pre-match press conference on Friday.

Asked about Bangladesh, Bento said, “They are playing well, and I am sure it is not going to be an easy match.”

Bangladesh head coach Javier Fernandez Cabrera spoke about team fatigue, given the team will not even have the full 72 hours of resting time, which is ideal according to him, but said that his boys are ready.

“We will have one training session with whatever adjustments we have to make. We are ready and excited to face Kuwait in the semifinals tomorrow. I am convinced we can give a very big fight.”

Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuyan said that Kuwait finishing top of Group A is a testament to how good of a side it is.

“We all know how dangerous they can be. But we have a good group of players who can compete. But we are ready. Obviously, the boys are a bit tired, but mentally we are prepared to go,” Bhuyan said.

Kuwait, with its 4-2-3-1 formation, has been lethal with its transitional play throughout the tournament, something that was even pointed out by Cabrera.

Apart from their lucid style of play, Bento’s men have shown they can dictate the tempo of the game, especially in the final third, with their possessional football and combination play. Lethal forwards like Shabaib Alkhaldi, Mobarak Alfaneeni and Fawaz Alotaibi will keep the Bengal Tigers defence on alert.

Bangladesh has shown the tendency to up the tempo after conceding in the past two games, where it came back from a one-goal deficit to register wins. While Cabrera praised his team’s mentality, he said that not conceding first against the Al-Azraqs will be of paramount importance.

As far as Bangladesh is concerned, it has had players finding form at just the right time. Cabrera has usually resorted to the classic 4-4-2 shape.

With clinical players like Rakib Hossain and Sumon Reza in attack and an experienced player like Bhuyan just behind them, the Bengal Tigers certainly have reason to be optimistic about their chances. Also, having in-form youngsters like Mohammad Hridoy and Sheikh Morsalin in the middle of the park is a bonus.

Head-to-head record

Kuwait and Bangladesh have met each other on just two occasions- in the 1973 Merdeka Cup in Malaysia and the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul. Kuwait emerged victorious on both occasions.