Thiruvananthapuram: Two dominating victories in the group stage notwithstading, India face the real test in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship when they take on Maldives in the first semifinals here on Thursday.
India, who had beaten Sri Lanka (2-0) and Nepal (4-1) to top Group A, had hardly broken a sweat till now but Maldives are a side which the Stephen Constantine-coached home team ill-afford to take lightly when they clash at the Greenfiled Stadium at Kariavattom.
Maldives are one of the better sides in South Asia. Rather, they are the second most successful side in the regional tournament, having won the title once (in 2008) and ended runners-up thrice (1997, 2003 and 2009).
India are also the lower-ranked side between the two at 166th, while Maldives occupy 160th spot in the latest FIFA charts. Defending champions Afghansitan are the highest ranked side at 150th.
Maldives, where football is a top sport, will also have at least a few hundred supporters at the stands as their national airlines, in collaboration with their national federation, have arranged flights for the fans to fly in here for the semifinal.
India will have the psychological advantage as they have beaten Maldives in all knock-out matches the two sides have played in the tournament. The home side have also been unbeaten in the tournament so far while the island nation lost to Afghanistan (1-4) in their final group fixure.
Six-time champions India have been on a roll in the tournament. They have conceded just one goal while scoring six from their two matches and have not shown any weakness so far in the tournament.
India will play Maldives at 3.30pm IST. Afghanistan take on Sri Lanka in the other semifinal at 6.30pm IST.
(with agency inputs)