Preview: Afghanistan v. Bhutan

2^ndSeptember 2013
SAFF Championships Group Stage
Halchowk Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal

Afghanistan v. Bhutan

Bhutan start their SAFF Championships campaign with probably their hardest group match against Afghanistan.  This will be the fifth meeting between the two sides with Bhutan looking to record just their second victory.

Their only victory to date came in the first meeting between the two sides in the 2008 SAFF Championships where a 3-1 win in the group stages in Colombo, Sir Lanka, helped Bhutan qualify for the semi-finals that year – their best SAFF performance to date.  Goals from Yeshey Dorji and two from Yeshey Gyeltshen proved decisive that day.

South Asian Football Fun – 2013 SAFF Championships

South Asia’s upcoming eight team party in Nepal gives an opportunity for Bhutan to try and claw their way off the foot of the World Rankings with a whopping three fixtures, their only fixtures so far in 2013.

Bhutan are in Group B alongside Afghanistan, Maldives and Sri Lanka.  Naturally all of these teams are ranked higher than Bhutan, but not so far above that we can’t get a little giddy at the prospect of a little upset here.  Afghanistan are the highest ranked at 139, followed by Maldives at 153 and Sri Lanka at 170.

Bhutan’s fixtures are as follows:

2ndSeptember 2013	v. Afghanistan	Halchowk Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal
4thSeptember 2013	v. Maldives	Halchowk Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal
6thSeptember 2013	v. Sri Lanka	Halchowk Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal

The other group is made up of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.