Changes brought to Maldives national squad for upcoming SAFF Championship 2021
Mohamed Naaim and Ali Haisham were removed from the list, due to injuries
National Football Team
Changes have been brought to the National Football Team squad for the upcoming SAFF Championship 2021, initially finalized and published earlier this week.
Ali Haisham and Mohamed Naaim were removed from squad due to injuries sustained in the Qatar training camp, with Maziya Sports and Recreation defender Moosa Yameen added to the squad. Moosa Yameen was initially excluded from the squad.
The squad was initially announced with 24 players on Sunday, however, it now comprises of 23 players, with the changes made. The squad was finalized with the exclusion of five players from the training squad. The five members eliminated from the squad are three defenders; Ali Shamis, Ahmed Abdulla, Moosa Yameen, midfielder Asfad Habeeb and forward Hassan Nazeem.
Yameen was included in the national team squad, in 2015 as well.
The 13th SAFF Championship is slated from October 1 – 16.
Comprised of 29 players, Maldives National Football Team departed to Qatar on September 10, for its training camp ahead of the championship. The team is set to return to the Maldives on Monday morning. The national team began training for the championship on August 26, with a preliminary squad comprising of 34 players. Only 29 players had joined the Qatar camp although a team of 30 players were to camp in Qatar initially. The 30th player was compromised after Maziya Sports and Recreation’s goalkeeper Hussain Shareef sustained injuries.
During the Qatar camp, Maldives played two friendlies. The team won against Lusail SC 4 – 3 last Tuesday, and tied with Army National Team 1 – 1 during Saturday’s match. Haisham attained injuries during the match against Lusail SC, with Naaim having sustained injuries in the latter.
Maldives will face Nepal in the first match of the tournament on October 1, before facing Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India respectively on October 7, 10 and 13. The top two finishers will play the final on October 16.
While the SAFF region comprises of seven countries, Bhutan had earlier withdrawn from competing in this championship due to Covid-19 concerns. Pakistan was unable to compete in the championship due to a FIFA suspension.
This is the second time Maldives will be hosting the highly-anticipated SAFF Championship. The first time was in 2008, where co-hosted with Sri Lanka. That time Maldives brought home the championship for the first time. The last SAFF championship was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2018 where Maldives and India made it to the finals. Maldives took home the championship that year as well.
