Margao: It’s a blockbuster final: seven-time champions India up against Bangladesh, winners of the last two editions. One seeking to regain the trophy they last won in 2019, another wanting to create history with a three-peat. Whichever way you look at it, the SAFF Women’s Championship final is certain to entertain at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Saturday.The clash marks the first time Bangladesh and India will battle for the regional crown in the final since 2016. That year, India were comfortable victors, scripting a 3-1 win in the final. When the two teams locked horns in the group-stage clash last week, the home team were comfortable 3-0 winners against the defending champions.The final equation will not be simple or straightforward.“I will only be happy if we can be a champion because nobody talks about the losing finalist,” India coach Crispin Chettri told TOI. “We can’t compare the final with the group stage match. It’s a completely different ball game. I think Bangladesh knows its strengths and weaknesses, and so do we. Bangladesh is a good side. We want to go and win and get this championship back home.”India were poor in their semifinal against Bhutan, a clash they won by a solitary second-half goal. It was a rather subdued performance, particularly for a side that has scored 14 goals in three games and conceded none. Chettri believes his team needs to focus, change their attitude, mindset, and disregard the 3-0 win in the group stage.“Bangladesh will come with a different mindset because they know they have nothing to lose. For us, we have to win. It’s about the attitude and how we approach the game,” said Chettri.India’s star player, Manisha Kalyan, the high-profile winger who plies her trade with Peruvian club Alianza Lima, came on as a second-half substitute along with captain Sangita Basfore which gave India’s attack some edge. Along with the seniors, she will have to deliver in a game with plenty at stake.Not surprisingly, Chettri confirmed there will be no developmental experiments in the final. “We will field our strongest team,” he said.The two teams have been the regions dominant force, winning all the seven titles between them. Besides the home advantage, history also favours India, who have won 10 of the 13 meetings between the two nations, drawing one and losing two.Bangladesh have bloomed in recent years and stunned India 3-0 in the 2022 SAFF Championship, before following it up with a 3-1 victory in 2024. The regional rivals have stuttered all through the tournament; a 4-2 win against minnows Maldives after being held till around the hour mark, a comprehensive loss against India, and a last-gasp win in the semifinals against Nepal.Coached by Peter Butler, who featured for West Ham United in the Premier League, Bangladesh haven’t played their best football, but in one-off games, they know how to get the job done.“Sometimes it’s not about playing beautiful football when you are in competition mode, it’s about getting over the line,” said Butler. “We are in the final. The best teams invariably don’t play the greatest football in their journey along the pathway to success in semifinals and final. It’s about dealing with the circumstances, managing the conditions, and more importantly, getting the desired result.“The girls have shown tremendous character and resilience. It will be a fresh game, and there will be no correlation with the group game that we lost.”The kick-off is 6.30pm.
