India only needed a draw against Maldives, and Suhail Ahmad Bhat’s penalty has won them their SAFF group

India needed only a draw in Dhaka on Wednesday, and they got more than that without ever looking comfortable. Suhail Ahmad Bhat’s penalty in the 38th minute beat Maldives 1-0 at the National Stadium, so Naushad Moosa’s side finish top of Group B with two wins from two and go into the SAFF Championship semi-finals as group winners.

It was Suhail’s third goal of the tournament, after his two against Pakistan in the opener. Abdul Rabeeh was brought down in the box, Suhail sent the goalkeeper Hussain Shareef the wrong way, and that was the only time either side scored.

India had the ball, Maldives had the late chances

For most of the afternoon this was the game India would have wanted. They kept the ball for long spells, with the captain Chinglensana Singh in defence, and Maldives did not create much until the last ten minutes.

India should have been out of sight by then. They had the second-half chances to make it two and did not take them, and a one-goal lead against a side with nothing to lose is never as safe as the possession makes it look.

Once Maldives brought on fresh legs, the game changed. Priyansh Dubey had to save from the substitute Muzdhaan Hassan late on, and in the 90th minute he came off his line to a Maldives player clean through and blocked the shot with his face. A draw would still have sent India through as winners, but it would have been the second game running in which they let a lead go in stoppage time.

Moosa had said after the 3-2 win over Pakistan, when India let in two goals in stoppage time, that late goals were something his side needed to learn from. They did not concede this time, but it took the goalkeeper to make sure of it.

A young side doing the senior team’s job

Moosa, who coaches the under-23s, has a young squad in Bangladesh because Khalid Jamil has taken the senior players to New Zealand for two friendlies. Still, India are the defending champions. They beat Kuwait in the 2023 final and have won the SAFF Championship nine times.

Pakistan, who beat Maldives 3-0 on Sunday, go through as Group B runners-up on three points. Maldives go home without a point or a goal.

Who India play next

India’s semi-final is on Saturday, 14 November, in Dhaka against the side that finishes second in Group A. That will not be known until Bangladesh play Sri Lanka on Wednesday night. Bangladesh lead the group on three points, and Sri Lanka and Bhutan have one each, so any of the three could still end up as India’s opponent. Pakistan play the Group A winners in the other semi-final later that day, and the final is on 17 November.

The worry for Saturday has not changed since the Pakistan game. India have kept the ball well in both matches, but they have one forward in form, and against Maldives they missed the chances that would have made the last ten minutes irrelevant. A better Group A side will not give them a quiet finish.

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