SL looks to bounce back in last two games of SAFF c’ships

Sri Lanka captain Sujan Perera. 
photo courtesy the papare.com

By Susil Premalal reporting from the Maldives

ka will look to bounce back into contention when they continue their campaign in the SAFF Football Championship at the National Stadium in the Maldives.

Sri Lanka will take on the seven-time champions India on October 7 and the defending champions Maldives on October 10 in their last two qualifying round games of the tournament.

Sri Lanka have already suffered two defeats at the hands of Bangladesh (0-1) and Nepal (2-3) but Skipper Sujan Perera is determined to win the last two games and conclude the tournament on a successful note.

Meanwhile, Nepal are currently on top of the points table with six points after having won both their matches while Bangladesh are in second place with one win and a drawn match under their belt with a tally of four points.          
Maldives, last edition’s runners-up India and Sri Lanka are yet to win a match in the tournament.

“I think we played a very good attacking game from the start against Nepal but unfortunately we missed a couple of scoring opportunities,” Sri Lanka Captain Perera said yesterday.

“No doubt we are up against two very strong teams in the next two outings but we are confident of creating an upset and winning both matches.”

Meanwhile, Football Sri Lanka President Umar Jaswar said it was a very good performance from the Sri Lankan outfit although they ended up in the losing side against Bangladesh and Nepal.