By Ranjika Perera

SL squad for SAFF football championship in Maldives in October

Sujan Perera, Ruwan Arunasiri, Dhanushka Rajapaksha, Harsha Fernando, Roshan Appuhamy, Chamod Dilshan, Charitha Rathnayaka, Duckson Puslas, Chathuranga Madushan, Marvin Hamilton, Chalana Chameera, Jude Supan, Mohamed Musthaq, Mohamed Shifan, Mohomad Fazal, Kavindu Ishan, Dillon De Silva, Waseem Razeek, Mohomed Aakib, Asikur Rahuman, Mohomed Hasmeer, Supun Dananjaya, Rifkhan Mohomed, Abdul Basith, Aman Faizer, Asela Madushan, Afeel Mohomed, Kaveesh Fernando, and Nuwan Gimahan

[caption id="attachment_157834" align="alignleft" width="357"] When Sri Lanka won the SAARC Gold Cup in 1995 in Colombo under the leadership of Sampath Perera[/caption]

The football fraternity in Sri Lanka will be treated with a week of exciting action as ‘the Golden Army’ travels to Maldives for the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in the first week of October.

The current champions and hosts, Maldives, will be favourites going into the tournament but India will pose a stern challenge as the highest-ranked (105) nation in South Asia.

Expected to fare well

Sri Lanka’s last competitive match was on 9 June this year when they were thrashed by the more superior South Korean side in the Asian Qualifiers for 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

However, the lions showed progress in the tournament, compared to previous tournaments, and both the pundits and former players alike all saw real potential in the side.

The new Head Coach Amir Alagic did certainly show promise in his tactics and Sri Lanka will be expected to perform well against their South Asian counterparts this time.

Key players and match dates

Leader and shot-stopper Sujan Perera will once again play a pivotal role for the side. He was monumental in saving some respectability in the score-line against South Korea where he played the game with an injury.

In the previous game against Lebanon, Sri Lanka almost pulled off an upset after Wazeem Razeek scored a brace early in the match. Lebanon won the match 3-2, but the score-line remained that way because of few heroic saves from Sujan.

The Golden Army will kick off the tournament against Bangladesh on 1 October. They will face Nepal, India, and finish off the first round against Maldives on the 8th.

Squad start preparations

Sri Lanka’s only triumph in the Championship was when in 1995, under the captaincy of Sampath Perera. Sarath Wellage’s screaming header in extra time against India won it for the Lions at the Sugathadasa Stadium.

In preparation for the competition, the 22 players were entered into bio-secure bubble on Friday (27). Prior to entering the bubble, all players were put in isolation for four days in a hotel, until they were cleared from PCR tests.

Three younger players in the squad were tested positive, and they were admitted to a care centre by the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL). The rest of the group is currently in the bubble at the Kelaniya Football Complex. They will remain there till 26 September when they will be travelling to Maldives.